The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 13 Captivity is represented by a linen belt

 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 13

Captivity is represented by a linen belt

1 Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.”

2 So I bought the belt, according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist.

3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying:

4 “Take the belt that you bought and are wearing around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.”

5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me.

6 After many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and get the belt that I commanded you to hide there.”

7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt had rotted and was good for nothing.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

9 Thus says the Lord: In the same way I will rot the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

10 This wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who walk according to the stubbornness of their hearts, and go after other gods to serve them and bow down to them, will be like this belt, which is good for nothing.

11 For as a belt is fastened to the loins of a man, so I bound to myself the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says the Lord, to be my people, and my name, and my praise, and my glory; but they did not listen.

12 Therefore, tell them this word: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Every wineskin shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to you, “Do we not know very well that every wineskin shall be filled with wine?”

13 But you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings of the line of David who sit on their thrones, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

14 And I will dash them to pieces, one against another, and fathers with sons together, says the Lord; I will not spare nor have pity, nor will I have compassion on them, that I may not destroy them.

15 Hear, and incline your ears; do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken.

16 Give glory to the Lord your God before darkness comes, before your feet stumble on the dark mountains; Before, hoping for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and reduces it to darkness.

17 And if you do not listen to this, my soul will weep in secret places because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and overflow with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

18 Say to the king and queen: Humble yourselves, and sit on the ground; for all the ornament of your heads has fallen, the crown of your glory.

19 The cities of the south are shut up, and there is no one to open them: all Judah has been taken captive; yes, it has been completely taken captive.

20 Lift up your eyes, and see those who come from the north: where is the flock that was given to you, and the sheep of your glory?

21 What will you say when I set your friends over you as head, if you yourself taught them against yourself? Will not pains seize you, like a woman in labor?

22 When you say in your heart, “Why have these things happened to me?” Because of the multitude of your iniquities, your skirts have been uncovered, and your heels suffer violently.

23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good, being accustomed to do evil.

24 Therefore I will scatter them like stubble, stubble that is driven by the desert wind.

25 This will be your lot, the portion that I will measure out for you, declares the Lord, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

26 So I will uncover your skirts to your face, and your shame will be exposed.

27 I have seen your abominations and your adulteries, your neighing and the enormity of your prostitution on the hills in the field; Woe to you, Jerusalem! Will you not purify yourself? How long?