Jeremiah 12–13

Chapter 12

¹Righteous art thou, Jehovah, when I plead with thee; yet will I speak with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously? ²Thou hast planted them, they also have taken root: they advance, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, but far from their reins. ³But thou, Jehovah, knowest me; thou hast seen me, and proved my heart toward thee. Drag them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter. ⁴How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of all the fields wither? Because of the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts and the birds perish; for they say, He will not see our end. ⁵If thou hast run with footmen, and they have wearied thee, how wilt thou then contend with horses? And if in a land of peace thou thinkest thyself in security, how wilt thou then do in the swelling of the Jordan? ⁶For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee, even they have cried aloud after thee. Believe them not, though they speak good words unto thee.

⁷I have forsaken my house, I have cast off my heritage, I have given the beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. ⁸My heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest; it hath raised its voice against me: therefore have I hated it. ⁹My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird of prey; the birds of prey round about are against her. Go, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour. ¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness: ¹¹they have made it a desolation; desolate, it mourneth unto me: the whole land is made desolate, for no man layeth it to heart. ¹²Spoilers are come upon all heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh hath peace. ¹³They have sown wheat, and they reap thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and do not profit. Be ye therefore ashamed of your revenues, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.

¹⁴Thus saith Jehovah against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. ¹⁵And it shall come to pass, after I have plucked them up, I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them back, each one to his inheritance, and each one to his land. ¹⁶And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, As Jehovah liveth—even as they taught my people to swear by Baal—they shall be built up in the midst of my people. ¹⁷And if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith Jehovah.

Chapter 13

¹Thus said Jehovah unto me: Go and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins; but dip it not in water. ²And I bought a girdle according to the word of Jehovah, and put it upon my loins. ³And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, ⁴Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. ⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah had commanded me. ⁶And it came to pass at the end of many days, that Jehovah said unto me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence which I commanded thee to hide there. ⁷And I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and behold, the girdle was spoiled, it was good for nothing. ⁸And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ⁹Thus saith Jehovah: After this manner will I spoil the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and go after other gods, to serve them and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle which is good for nothing. ¹¹For as a girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith Jehovah; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

¹²And thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Every skin shall be filled with wine. And they will say unto thee, Do we not very well know that every skin shall be filled with wine? ¹³And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings that sit for David upon his throne, and the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. ¹⁴And I will dash them one against another, both the fathers and the sons together, saith Jehovah; I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy so as not to destroy them. ¹⁵Hear ye, and give ear, be not lifted up; for Jehovah hath spoken. ¹⁶Give glory to Jehovah your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the mountains of twilight; and ye shall look for light, but he will turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. ¹⁷And if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Jehovah’s flock is gone into captivity. ¹⁸Say unto the king and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down low; for from your heads shall come down the crown of your magnificence. ¹⁹The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them; all Judah is carried away captive: it is wholly carried away captive. ²⁰Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north. Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? ²¹What wilt thou say when he shall visit thee, since thou thyself hast trained them to be princes in chief over thee? Shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

²²And if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels have suffered violence. ²³Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, who are accustomed to do evil. ²⁴And I will scatter them as stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. ²⁵This shall be thy lot, thy measured portion from me, saith Jehovah; because thou hast forgotten me, and confided in falsehood. ²⁶Therefore will I also turn thy skirts over thy face, and thy shame shall be seen. ²⁷Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy fornication, on the hills, in the fields, —thine abominations, have I seen. Woe unto thee, Jerusalem! Wilt thou not be made clean? after how long a time yet?