This weekly Tanach Podcast is a with Rabbi Yisroel Chaim Blumenthal has been brought to you by Jews for Judaism. Today we focus on Jeremiah Chapter 12.
1. So said the Lord to me; Go and buy yourself a linen girdle and put it on your loins, and do not put it in water.
2. And I bought the girdle according to the word of the Lord, and I put [it] on my loins.
3. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying:
4. Take the girdle that you bought and rise, go to Perath and hide it there in the cleft of a rock.
5. And I went and hid it in Perath, as the Lord had commanded me.
6. And it came to pass at the end of many days, that the Lord said to me; Arise, go to Perath and take from there the girdle which I commanded you to hide there.
7. And I went to Perath, and I dug and took the girdle from the place where I had hidden it, and behold, the girdle was rotten; it was of no use for anything.
8. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9. So said the Lord: So will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10. This evil people, who refuse to hearken to My words, who follow the view of their heart, and they followed other gods to worship them and to prostrate themselves to them; and it shall be like this girdle, which is of no use for anything.
11. For, just as the girdle clings to a man's loins, so have I caused the entire house of Israel and the entire house of Judah to cling to Me, says the Lord, to be My people, and for a name and for praise and for glory, but they did not hearken.
12. And you shall say this word to them: So said the Lord God of Israel; Every bottle will be filled with wine. And they will say to you, "Do we not know that every bottle is filled with wine?"
13. And you shall say to them: So said the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land and the kings who sit upon David's throne, and the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness.
14. And I will dash them one against the other, and the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will neither pity, nor will I spare, nor will I have compassion not to destroy them.
15. Hearken and give ear, do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken.
16. Give the Lord your God honor before it becomes dark, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and you shall hope for light, but He will make it into darkness, and making it into a thick cloud.
17. And if you do not hearken to it, in secret my soul will weep because of your pride and my eye shall weep sore and run down with tears, for the Lord's flock has been captured.
18. Say to the king and to the queen-mother, "Sit in a low place, for your greatness has come down, the crown of your glory."
19. The cities of the South are shut up and there is none to open [them]; all of Judah has been exiled, she was exiled peacefully.
20. Lift your eyes and see those coming from the North. Where is the flock that was given you, the sheep of your glory?
21. What will you say when He visits upon you, when you accustomed them to be princes over you at your head? Will not pangs seize you like a woman in confinement?
22. And if you say in your heart, "Why have these befallen me? For the greatness of your iniquity were your skirts uncovered, your steps cut off.
23. Will a Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? So will you be able to improve, you who have become accustomed to do evil.
24. And I will scatter them like straw that passes with the wind, to the desert.
25. This is your lot, the portion of your measures, from Me, says the Lord, for you have forgotten Me, and you have trusted in falsehood.
26. And I also have uncovered your skirts over your face, and your disgrace has been seen.
27. Your adulteries and your neighings, and the thoughts of your harlotry; on hills in the field have I seen your abominations; woe to you, Jerusalem, you shall not become purified. After when shall it ever be?