Thus said Jehovah to me, Go and buy yourself a linen girdle, and put it on your loins, but do not put it in water.

So I bought a girdle according to the word of Jehovah and put it upon my loins.

And the word of Jehovah came to me a second time, saying,

Take the girdle which you bought, which is upon your loins, and rise up; go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.

And I went and I hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah had commanded me.

And at the end of many days Jehovah said to me, Rise up; go to the Euphrates, and take from there the girdle which I commanded you to hide there.

And I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the girdle from the place where I had hidden it; and there the girdle was, spoiled and good for nothing.

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Thus says Jehovah, Even so I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

This 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, will be even like this girdle, which is good for nothing.

For as this girdle clings to the loins of a man, so I have caused all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah to cling to Me, declares Jehovah, that they might be to Me a people and a name and a praise and a glory; but they would not listen.

And you shall speak to them this word, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Every wineskin will be filled with wine. And they will say to you, Do we not know very well that every wineskin will be filled with wine?

Then you shall say to them, Thus says Jehovah, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land and the kings who sit in David's place on his throne and the priests and the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness,

And I will dash them one against the other, both the fathers and the sons together, declares Jehovah; I will not spare or pity or have compassion so as not to destroy them.

Hear and give ear and do not be proud,
For Jehovah has spoken.

Give glory to Jehovah your God,
Before He brings darkness,
And before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains;
And you will look for light,
But He will turn it into a shadow of death
And make it deep darkness.

And if you will not hear it,
My soul will weep in secret places for your pride;
And my eye will  ¹weep bitterly and shed tears,
Because the flock of Jehovah has been taken captive.

Say to the king and to the queen mother,
Humble yourselves and sit down,
For your beautiful crown
Has come down from your heads.

The cities of the south have been shut up,
And there is no one to open them;
All Judah has been taken into exile,
Wholly taken into exile.

Lift up your eyes,
And see those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
Your beautiful sheep?

What will you say when He appoints over you as head
Those whom you yourself have trained to be your friends?
Will not pains take hold of you,
Like those of a woman in travail?

And if you say in your heart,
Why have these things happened to me?
It is because of the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are uncovered,
That your heels suffer violence.

Can the  ¹Cushite change his skin,
Or the leopard his spots?
Then you also may be able to do good,
Who are accustomed to do evil.

Therefore I will scatter them like chaff driven
By the wind of the wilderness.

This is your lot,
The portion measured out to you from Me,
Declares Jehovah,
Because you have forgotten Me
And have trusted in falsehood.

I will also strip your skirts off over your head,
And your shame will be seen.

Your adulteries and your neighings,
The lewdness of your fornication
Upon the hills, in the field,
Your detestable things — I have seen.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long a time will you still not be clean?

The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah concerning the  ¹drought:

Judah mourns,
And her gates languish;
In black they mourn on the ground,
And the cry of Jerusalem goes up.

And their nobles send their servants for water;
They come to cisterns,
And they find no water;
They return with their vessels empty;
They are ashamed and confounded
And cover their heads.

Because the ground is cracked,
For there has been no rain on the earth,
The farmers are ashamed;
They cover their heads.

For even the hind in the field gives birth and abandons its young
Because there is no grass.

And the wild asses stand on the bare heights;
They pant after the wind like jackals;
Their eyes fail,
For there is no herbage.

Although our iniquities testify against us,
O Jehovah, act for You're name's sake,
For our apostasies have become many;
We have sinned against You.

O Hope of Israel,
Its Savior in a time of distress,
Why should You be like a sojourner in the land,
Like a traveler who turns aside to lodge for the night?

Why should You be like an astonished man,
Like a mighty man who is unable to save?
Yet You are in our midst, O Jehovah,
And we are called by Your name;
Do not leave us.

Thus says Jehovah to this people, Even so they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore Jehovah has no delight in them; now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.

And Jehovah said to me, Do not pray for the welfare of this people.

When they fast, I will not listen to their cry; when they offer up a burnt offering and a meal offering, I will not accept them; but by sword and by famine and by pestilence I will consume them.

And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Indeed, the prophets say to them, You will not see sword, nor will you have famine, for I will give you assured peace in this place.

And Jehovah said to me, The prophets prophesy falsehood in My name; I did not send them or command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision and divination and a worthless thing and the deceit of their own heart.

Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, although I did not send them, yet they say, A sword and famine will not be in this land: By sword and by famine those prophets will be consumed.

And the people to whom they prophesy will be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them — them, their wives, and their sons and their daughters — and I will pour out their own wickedness on them.

And you shall speak this word to them,
Let  ¹my eyes run down with tears
Night and day, and let them not cease;
For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with great brokenness,
A very grievous wound.

If I go forth into the field —
Look, those slain by the sword;
And if I come into the city —
Look, those diseased with famine.
For both the prophet and the priest
Will go about in a land that they do not know.

Have You utterly rejected Judah?
Or does Your soul loathe Zion?
Why have You stricken us
So that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace, but no good came;
And for a time of healing, but there was terror.

We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness,
The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.

Do not hold us in contempt, for Your name's sake;
Do not dishonor Your throne of glory;
Remember and do not break Your covenant with us.

Are there among the vanities of the nations any that can bring rain,
Or in the heavens any that can give showers?
Are You not He, O Jehovah our God?
Therefore we wait for You,
For You have made all these things.

And Jehovah said to me, Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My soul would not turn toward this people. Send them out of My sight and let them go.

And when they say to you, Where shall we go? Then you shall say to them, Thus says Jehovah,
Those who are for death to death,
And those who are for the sword to the sword,
And those who are for famine to famine,
And those who are for captivity to captivity.

And I will visit them with four kinds of punishment, declares Jehovah: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

And I will make them a horror among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of  ¹Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
And who will lament for you;
And who will turn aside to ask
After your welfare?

You have forsaken Me,
Declares Jehovah.
You keep going backward,
And I have stretched out My hand against you
And have destroyed you;
I have become  ¹weary of repenting.

And I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork
In the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them of children
And destroyed My people;
They have not turned back from their ways.

Their widows have increased before Me
More than the sand of the seas;
I have brought to them,
Against the mother of the young men,
A spoiler at noon;
I have caused anguish and terror
To fall on her suddenly.

She who has borne seven languishes;
She has breathed out her life.
Her sun has gone down while it is still day;
She is put to shame and confounded.
And the rest of them I will give up to the sword
Before their enemies,
Declares Jehovah.

 ¹Woe is me, my mother, because you bore me,
A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land.
I have not lent with interest,
Nor have they lent to me;
Yet everyone curses me.

Jehovah said, Surely I will set you free for your good;
Indeed I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you
In a time of trouble and in a time of distress.

Can one break  ¹iron,
Iron from the north, or bronze?

 ¹Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as plunder without price,
And that for all your sins,
And within all your borders.

I will cause your enemies to bring it
Into a land you do not know;
For a fire is kindled in My anger,
Which will burn against you.

O Jehovah, You know;
Remember me and visit me,
And  ¹avenge me of my persecutors.
Do not let Your long-suffering for them prevail and have me taken away;
Know that for Your sake I bear reproach.

Your words were found and I  ¹ate them,
And Your word became to me
The gladness and joy of my heart,
For I am called by Your name,
O Jehovah, God of hosts.

I did not sit in the assembly of mockers, nor did I exult.
Because of Your hand I sat alone,
For You have filled me with indignation.

Why is my pain unceasing,
And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me like a deceitful brook?
Like waters that fail?

Therefore thus says Jehovah,
If  ¹you return, I will restore you;
You will stand before Me;
And if you  ²bring out the precious from the worthless,
You will be as My mouth;
They will turn to you,
But you will not turn to them.

And I will make you to this people
A  ¹fortified wall of bronze;
And they will fight against you,
But they will not prevail against you;
For I am with you
To save you and deliver you,
Declares Jehovah.

And I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked
And redeem you from the hand of those who terrorize.