Jeremiah 13

Thus says the Lord: Go and acquire for yourself a linen loincloth, and put it around your waist, and it shall not pass through water.

And I acquired the loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and I put it around my waist.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Take the loincloth that is around your waist, and arise and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in the cleft of the rock.

And I went and hid it at the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

And it happened after many days that the Lord said to me: Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the loincloth which I commanded you to hide there.

And I went to the river Euphrates and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had buried it there; and behold, it was ruined, of no use for anything.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Thus says the Lord: So will I ruin the pride of Judah and the pride of Jerusalem,

this great pride: those who refuse to obey my words and who went after other gods to serve them and to worship them. And they shall be like this loincloth, which is of no use for anything.

For just as a loincloth clings around a man's waist, so I made the house of Israel and all the house of Judah cling to myself, to become for me a people of renown and a boast and a glory; but they did not listen to me.

And you shall say to this people: Every wineskin shall be filled with wine. And it shall be, if they say to you: Do we not surely know that every wineskin shall be filled with wine?

then you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am filling the inhabitants of this land, and their kings who sit as sons of David upon his throne, and the priests and the prophets and Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with strong drink.

And I will scatter them, a man and his brother, and their fathers and their sons alike. I will not yearn, says the Lord, and I will not spare, and I will not have compassion, so as to keep them from their destruction.

Hear and give ear, and do not be lifted up, for the Lord has spoken.

Give glory to the Lord your God before it grows dark, and before your feet stumble on dark mountains; and you will wait for light, but there is the shadow of death, and they shall be turned into darkness.

But if you do not hear, your soul shall weep in secret because of pride, and your eyes shall run down with tears, for the flock of the Lord has been crushed.

Say to the king and to those who rule: Humble yourselves and sit down, for the crown of your glory has been taken down from your head.

The cities to the south were shut up, and there was none to open them. Judah was carried away; it completed a total deportation.

Lift up your eyes, O Jerusalem, and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, the sheep of your glory?

What will you say when they visit you? For you yourself taught them lessons against you, to be your rulers. Shall not pangs seize you like a woman giving birth?

And if you say in your heart: Why have these things befallen me? It is because of the greatness of your iniquity that your backside was uncovered, that your heels were exposed to shame.

Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard its spots? Then you also will be able to do good, you who have learned to do evil.

And I scattered them like brushwood carried by the wind into the wilderness.

This is your lot and the portion for your disobedience to me, says the Lord, because you forgot me and hoped in lies.

And I also will uncover what is behind you over your face, and your dishonour shall be seen.

And your adultery and your neighing and the estrangement of your fornication, upon the hills and in the fields I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem, for you have not been cleansed to follow after me. How much longer yet?