*Thus saith the Lord unto me, Go and get thee aa linen bgirdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. 2 cSo I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins. 3 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, 4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in da hole of the rock. 5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. 7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle ewas marred, it fwas profitable for nothing. 8 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 Thus saith the Lord, gAfter this manner will I emar hthe pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which iwalk in the ||imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which fis good for nothing. 11 For as the 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 the Lord; kthat they might be unto me for a people, and lmnfor a name, and lnofor a praise, and lfor a glory: but they would not hear.

12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, pEvery bottle qshall be filled with wine: and rthey shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? 13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even sthe kings that sit upon David’s throne, and sthe priests, and sthe prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, twith drunkenness. 14 And uI will dash them †one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, †but destroy them.

15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. 16 vGive glory to the Lord your God, before whe cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while xye look for light, he turn it into ythe shadow of death, and make it zgross darkness. 17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your apride; and bmine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive. 18 Say unto cthe king and to cdthe queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your ||principalities shall come down, even ethe crown of your glory. 19 The cities of the south shall be fshut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive. 20 Lift up your eyes, and behold gthem that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? 21 What wilt thou say when he shall †punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be hcaptains, and as ichief over thee: kshall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail? 22 And if thou say in thine heart, lWherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are mthy skirts discovered, and thy heels ||made bare. 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or nthe leopard his spots? othen may ye also do good, that are †accustomed to do evil. 24 Therefore will I scatter them pas the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. 25 qThis is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because rthou hast forgotten me, and trusted in sfalsehood. 26 Therefore will I discover mtthy skirts upon thy face, that uthy shame may appear. 27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy vneighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations won the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! xwilt thou not be made clean? †when shall it once be?

14 *The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah aconcerning †bthe dearth.

2  Judah mourneth, and cthe gates thereof dlanguish;

eThey are black unto the ground;

And fthe cry of Jerusalem gis gone up.

3  And their nobles have sent htheir little ones to the waters:

They came to the pits, and found no water;

They returned with their vessels empty;

iThey were ashamed and confounded, and kcovered their heads.

4  Because the ground is chapt,

For lthere was no rain in the earth,

The plowmen were ashamed, kthey covered their heads.

5  Yea, mthe hind also calved in the field, and forsook it,

Because there was no grass.

6  And nthe wild asses did stand in the high places,

nThey snuffed up the wind like odragons;

Their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it pfor thy name’s sake: for qour backslidings are many; rwe have sinned against thee. 8 sO the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as ta wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? 9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man uthat cannot save? yet vthou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and †wwe are called by thy name; xleave us not. 10 Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore ythe Lord doth not accept them; yzhe will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. 11 Then said the Lord unto me, aPray not for this people bfor their good. 12 cWhen they fast, I will not hear their cry; and dwhen they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but eI will consume them by fthe sword, and by fthe famine, and by fthe pestilence.

13 gThen said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you †assured hpeace in this place. 14 Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets iprophesy lies in my name: jI sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and kdivination, and a thing of nought, and lthe deceit of their heart. 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and jI sent them not, myet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; nBy sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and othey shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. 17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them;

pLet mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and qlet them not cease:

For the virgin rdaughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very sgrievous blow.

18  If I go forth into tthe field, then behold the slain with the sword!

And if I enter tinto the city, then behold them that are sick with famine!

Yea, uboth the prophet and the priest ||vgo about vvinto a land that they know not.

19  wHast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion?

Why hast thou smitten us, and xthere is no healing for us?

yWe looked for peace, and there is no good;

And yfor the time of healing, and behold trouble!

20  We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers:

zFor we have sinned against thee.

21  Do not abhor us, afor thy name’s sake,

Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory:

bRemember, break not thy covenant with us.

22  cAre there any among dthe vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain?

Or can the heavens give eshowers?

fArt not thou he, O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon thee:

For thou hast made gall these things.

15 Then said the Lord unto me, aThough bcMoses and bdSamuel astood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord; eSuch as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. 3 And fI will appoint over them four †kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and gthe fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. 4 And †I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of hManasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or iwho shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside †to ask how thou doest? 6 kThou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art lgone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; mI am weary with repenting. 7 And I will nfan them with oa fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them pof ||children, I will destroy my people, since qthey return not from their ways. 8 Their widows are increased to me rabove the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them ||against the mother of the young men a spoiler sat noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and tterrors upon the city. 9 uShe that hath borne seven languisheth: vshe hath given up the ghost; wher sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord.

10 xWoe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither ylent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me. 11 The Lord said, Verily zit shall be well with thy remnant; verily ||aI will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. 12 Shall iron break bthe northern iron and cthe steel? 13 dThy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil ewithout price, and that for all thy