OEB JER section

The Havoc

7 My house I have forsaken,

My heritage I have cast off;

Into the hands of her foes

I have given the Beloved of My soul.

8 My darling is grown to Me (fierce)

As a lion in the jungle;

She hath lifted her voice against Me,

And therefore I abhor her.

9 Is My darling a speckled bird,

That the birds circle round and assail her?

Come, all ye beasts of the field,

Come hither to devour.

10 Shepherds many have ruined My vineyard,

And trampled My ground under foot;

They have turned My pleasant inheritance

Into a desolate wilderness.

11 They have made it a desolation,

It mourneth, ah me! all desolate.

Desolate all is the land,

But no one cares.

12 Upon all the bare heights in the wilderness

Spoilers have descended;

For the sword of Jehovah devours

From one end of the land to another;

No peace is there for any.

13 Wheat they have sown, but thorns they have reaped;

Their labour hath profited nothing;

Their harvest shall bring them to shame,

Because of Jehovah’s hot anger.

14 This is the word of Jehovah,

To all Mine evil neighbours

That put forth a hand on the heritage

I gave to My people Israel.

Behold! I will pluck them away from their land,

And the household of Judah I pluck from the midst of them;

15 But when thus I have plucked them away,

I will once more take pity upon them,

And bring each man back to his heritage,

Each to his own land again.

16 And if ever they master the ways of My people,

To swear by My name, "As Jehovah liveth,"

As they once taught My people to swear by the Baal,

They shall then be built up in the midst of My people.

17 But the nation that will not listen,

I will pluck clean away and destroy, saith Jehovah.

13 Jehovah told me to go and buy a linen waistcloth and put it on my loins, taking care not to let it get into water. 2 So I bought a waistcloth, as Jehovah had bidden me, and I put it on my loins.

3 Then a second message from Jehovah came to me, telling me 4 to take the waistcloth I had bought, that was on my loins, and to proceed to Parah and bury it there in a chink of the rock. 5 So I went and buried it at Parah, as Jehovah had charged me. 6 Many days after, Jehovah told me to proceed to Parah and remove the waistcloth which He had charged me to bury there. 7 Then I went to Parah and dug out and took the linen waistcloth from the place where I had buried it; and lo! the waistcloth was ruined – it was good for nothing.

8 Then there came to me this word from Jehovah: 9 Thus saith Jehovah, Ruin like this I will bring upon the soaring pride of Judah and Jerusalem. 10 As for these depraved people who, refusing to listen to My words, follow the dictates of their own stubborn hearts and indulge in the worship and service of other gods – let them become like this waistcloth, good for nothing. 11 For, as the waistcloth clings to a man’s loins, so would I have had the whole household of Israel and Judah cling unto Me, saith Jehovah, to be My people, a source of renown and praise and glory: but they would not listen.

12 Take to them therefore this message: Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, "Every jar must be filled with wine." And if they say to thee, "Why, of course we know that every jar must be filled with wine," 13 then this is what thou shalt say to them: Thus saith Jehovah: Soon – mark it well – I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land – the kings that sit upon the throne of David, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 14 and I will dash them, saith Jehovah, one against another, fathers and sons together. I will neither spare nor pity: no compassion shall restrain Me from destroying them.

OEB by section JER 12:7

The Havoc