Jeremiah 12–13

¹Righteous art Thou, O Jehovah, When I plead towards thee, Only, judgments do I speak with Thee, Wherefore did the way of the wicked prosper? At rest have been all treacherous dealers. ²Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root, They go on, yea, they have made fruit, Near art Thou in their mouth, And far off from their reins. ³And Thou, O Jehovah, Thou hast known me, Thou seest me, and hast tried my heart with Thee, Draw them away as sheep to slaughter, And separate them for a day of slaughter. ⁴Till when doth the earth mourn, And the herb of the whole field wither? For the wickedness of those dwelling in it, Consumed have been beast and fowl, Because they said, ‘He doth not see our latter end.’ ⁵For—with footmen thou hast run, And they weary thee, And how dost thou fret thyself with horses! Even in the land of peace, In which thou art confident—And how dost thou in the rising of Jordan! ⁶For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, Even they dealt treacherously against thee, Even they—they called after thee fully, Trust not in them, when they speak to thee good things.

⁷I have forsaken My house, I have left Mine inheritance, I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies. ⁸Mine inheritance hath been to Me as a lion in a forest, She gave forth against Me with her voice, Therefore I have hated her. ⁹A speckled fowl is Mine inheritance to Me? Is the fowl round about against her? Come, assemble, every beast of the field, Come ye for food. ¹⁰Many shepherds did destroy My vineyard, They have trodden down My portion, They have made My desirable portion Become a wilderness—a desolation. ¹¹He hath made it become a desolation, The desolation hath mourned unto Me, Desolated hath been all the land, But there is no one laying it to heart. ¹²On all high places in the plain have spoilers come in, For the sword of Jehovah is consuming, From the end of the land even unto the end of the land, There is no peace to any flesh. ¹³They sowed wheat, and have thorns reaped, They have become sick—they profit not, And they have been ashamed of your increases, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah.

¹⁴Thus said Jehovah concerning all my evil neighbours, who are striking against the inheritance that I caused my people—Israel—to inherit: ‘Lo, I am plucking them from off their ground, And the house of Judah I pluck out of their midst. ¹⁵And it hath been, after My plucking them out, I turn back, and have pitied them, And I have brought them back, Each to his inheritance, and each to his land. ¹⁶And it hath come to pass, If they learn well the ways of My people, To swear by My name, ‘Jehovah liveth,’ As they taught My people to swear by Baal, Then they have been built up in the midst of My people. ¹⁷And if they do not hearken, Then I have plucked up that nation, Plucking up and destroying, An affirmation of Jehovah!’

Chapter 13

¹Thus said Jehovah unto me, ‘Go, and thou hast got for thee a girdle of linen, and hast placed it on thy loins, and into water thou dost not cause it to enter:’ ²and I get the girdle, according to the word of Jehovah, and I place it on my loins. ³And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, saying, ⁴‘Take the girdle that thou hast got, that is on thy loins, and rise, go to Phrat, and hide it there in a hole of the rock; ⁵and I go and hide it by Phrat, as Jehovah commanded me. ⁶And it cometh to pass, at the end of many days, that Jehovah saith unto me, ‘Rise, go to Phrat, and take thence the girdle, that I commanded thee to hide there;’ ⁷and I go to Phrat, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and lo, the girdle hath been marred, it is not profitable for anything. ⁸And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, ‘Thus said Jehovah: ⁹Thus do I mar the excellency of Judah, And the great excellency 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 bow themselves to them, Yea it is—as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything. ¹¹For, as the girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, So I caused to cleave unto Me The whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah, To be to Me for a people, and for a name, And for praise, and for beauty, And they have not hearkened.

¹²And thou hast said unto them this word, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, ‘Every bottle is full of wine,’ And they have said unto thee: ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle is full of wine?’ ¹³And thou hast said unto them, ‘Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, And the kings who sit for David on his throne, And the priests, and the prophets, And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, With drunkenness, ¹⁴And have dashed them one against another, And the fathers and the sons together, An affirmation of Jehovah, I do not pity, nor spare, nor have I mercy, So as not to destroy them. ¹⁵Hear, and give ear—be not haughty, For Jehovah hath spoken. ¹⁶Give ye to Jehovah your God honour, Before He doth cause darkness, And before your feet stumble on dark mountains, And ye have waited for light, And He hath made it for death-shade, And hath appointed it for thick darkness. ¹⁷And if ye do not hear it, In secret places doth my soul weep, because of pride, Yea, it weepeth sore, And the tear cometh down mine eyes, For the flock of Jehovah hath been taken captive. ¹⁸Say to the king and to the mistress: Make yourselves low—sit still, For come down have your principalities, The crown of your beauty. ¹⁹The cities of the south have been shut up, And there is none opening, Judah hath been removed—all of her, She hath been removed completely— ²⁰Lift up your eyes, and see those coming in from the north, Where is the drove given to thee, thy beautiful flock? ²¹What dost thou say, when He looketh after thee? And thou—thou hast taught them to be over thee—leaders for head? Do not pangs seize thee as a travailing woman?

²²And when thou dost say in thy heart, ‘Wherefore have these met me?’ For the abundance of thine iniquity Have thy skirts been uncovered, Have thy heels suffered violence. ²³Doth a Cushite change his skin? and a leopard his spots? Ye also are able to do good, who are accustomed to do evil. ²⁴And I scatter them as stubble, Passing away, by a wind of the wilderness. ²⁵This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from Me—an affirmation of Jehovah, Because thou hast forgotten me, And dost trust in falsehood. ²⁶I also have made bare thy skirts before thy face, And thy shame hath been seen. ²⁷Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, The wickedness of thy whoredom, on heights in a field, I have seen thine abominations. Woe to thee, O Jerusalem, Thou art not cleansed, after when is it again?

Chapter 14