Jeremiah 13 — BBE
13Verse 1This is what the Lord said to me: Go and get yourself a linen band and put it round you and do not put it in water.Verse 2So, as the Lord said, I got a band for a price and put it round my body.Verse 3And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying,Verse 4Take the band which you got for a price, which is round your body, and go to Parah and put it in a secret place there in a hole of the rock.Verse 5So I went and put it in a secret place by Parah, as the Lord had said to me.Verse 6Then after a long time, the Lord said to me, Up! go to Parah and get the band which I gave you orders to put there.Verse 7So I went to Parah and, uncovering the hole, took the band from the place where I had put it away: and the band was damaged and of no use for anything.Verse 8Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,Verse 9The Lord has said, In this way I will do damage to the pride of Judah and to the great pride of Jerusalem.Verse 10These evil people who say they will not give ear to my words, who go on in the pride of their hearts and have become servants and worshippers of other gods, will become like this band which is of no use for anything.Verse 11For as a band goes tightly round a man's body, so I made all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah tightly united to me; so that they might be a people for me and a name and a praise and a glory: but they would not give ear.Verse 12So you are to say this word to them: This is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: Every skin bottle will be full of wine; and they will say to you, Is it not quite clear to us that every skin bottle will be full of wine?Verse 13Then you are to say to them, The Lord has said, I will make all the people of this land, even the kings seated on David's seat, and the priests and the prophets and all the people of Jerusalem, overcome with strong drink.Verse 14I will have them smashed against one another, fathers and sons together, says the Lord: I will have no pity or mercy, I will have no feeling for them to keep me from giving them to destruction.Verse 15Give ear and let your ears be open; be not lifted up: for these are the words of the Lord.Verse 16Give glory to the Lord your God, before he makes it dark, and before your feet are slipping on the dark mountains, and, while you are looking for a light, he makes it into deep dark, into black night.Verse 17But if you do not give ear to it, my soul will be weeping in secret for your pride; my eye will be weeping bitterly, streaming with water, because the Lord's flock has been taken away as prisoners.Verse 18Say to the king and to the queen-mother, Make yourselves low, be seated on the earth: for the crown of your glory has come down from your heads.Verse 19The towns of the south are shut up, and there is no one to make them open: Judah is taken away as prisoners; all Judah is taken away as prisoners.Verse 20Let your eyes be lifted up (O Jerusalem), and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock which was given to you, your beautiful flock?Verse 21What will you say when he puts over you those whom you yourself have made your friends? will not pains take you like a woman in childbirth?Verse 22And if you say in your heart, Why have these things come on me? because of the number of your sins, your skirts have been uncovered and violent punishment overtakes you.Verse 23Is it possible for the skin of the Ethiopian to be changed, or the markings on the leopard? Then it might be possible for you to do good, who have been trained to do evil.Verse 24So I will send them in all directions, as dry grass is taken away by the wind of the waste land.Verse 25This is your fate, the part measured out to you by me, says the Lord, because you have put me out of your memory and put your faith in what is false.Verse 26So I will have your skirts uncovered before your face, in order that your shame may be seen.Verse 27I have seen your disgusting acts, even your false behaviour and your cries of desire and your loose ways on the hills in the field. Unhappy are you, O Jerusalem, you have no desire to be made clean; how long will you be in turning back to me?