Thus saith Jehovah unto me, Go, and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not 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 unto me the second time, saying,
Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.
So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me.
And it came to pass after 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.
Then I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
Then the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Thus saith Jehovah, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
This evil people, that refuse to hear my words, that walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing.
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 Jehovah; that they may be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Every {Or, jar}bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every {Or, jar}bottle shall be filled with wine?
Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit {Hebrew: for David upon his throne.}upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith Jehovah: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.
Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud; for Jehovah hath spoken.
Give glory to Jehovah your God, before {Or, it grow dark}he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the {Hebrew: mountains of twilight.}dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into {Or, deep darkness}the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Jehovah's flock is taken captive.
Say thou unto the king and to the queen-mother, {Or, Sit ye down low}Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headtires are come down, even {Or, your beautiful crown}the crown of your glory.
The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive.
Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
{Or, What wilt thou say, when he shall visit thee, seeing thou thyself hast instructed them against thee, even thy friends to be head over thee?}What wilt thou say, when he shall set over thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends to thee? shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?
And if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore are these things come upon me? for the {Or, multitude}greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels suffer violence.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are {Hebrew: taught.}accustomed to do evil.
Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passeth away, {Or, unto}by the wind of the wilderness.
This is thy lot, the portion measured unto thee from me, saith Jehovah; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
Therefore will I also uncover thy skirts {Or, before}upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear.
I have seen thine abominations, even thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, on the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?
Querverweise zu Jeremia 13,17 Jer 13,17
But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith Jehovah, that this house shall become a desolation.
{[chapter 8:23. in Hebrew]} {Or, Oh that I were in the wilderness, in &c.}Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! {[chapter 9:1. in Hebrew]}
The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive.
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
And thou shalt say this word unto them, Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd after thee; neither have I desired {Some ancient versions read, the judgement day of man.}the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was before thy face.
For the Chief Musician; set to {That is, Lilies, a testimony}Shoshannim Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;Thou that {Or, art enthroned}sittest above the cherubim, shine forth.
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovah all night.
{Or, Then his people remembered the ancient days of Moses &c.}Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the {Another reading is, shepherd.}shepherds of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?
And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; {Or, but}for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Jehovah repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
And ye my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Streams of water run down mine eyes,Because they observe not thy law.
As the {Hebrew: flock of holy things.}flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks;Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her:All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies.
For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water;Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me:My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.
Their heart cried unto the Lord:O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night;Give thyself no respite; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it,
saying, {Or, O that thou hadst known}If thou hadst known in {Some ancient authorities read this thy day.}this day, even thou, the things which belong unto {Some ancient authorities read thy peace.}peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.
For I could {Or, pray}wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;