Jeremiah 13:15-27

New King James Version

Pride Precedes Captivity

¹⁵Hear and give ear:
Do not be proud,
For the Lord has spoken.
¹⁶^(A)Give glory to the Lord your God
Before He causes ^(B)darkness,
And before your feet stumble
On the dark mountains,
And while you are ^(C)looking for light,
He turns it into ^(D)the shadow of death
And makes it dense darkness.
¹⁷But if you will not hear it,
My soul will ^(E)weep in secret for your pride;
My eyes will weep bitterly
And run down with tears,
Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to ^(F)the king and to the queen mother,
“Humble yourselves;
Sit down,
For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.”
¹⁹The cities of the South shall be shut up,
And no one shall open them;
Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it;
It shall be wholly carried away captive.

²⁰Lift up your eyes and see
Those who come from the ^(G)north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
Your beautiful sheep?
²¹What will you say when He punishes you?
For you have taught them
To be chieftains, to be head over you.
Will not ^(H)pangs seize you,
Like a woman in ^[a]labor?
²²And if you say in your heart,
^(I)“Why have these things come upon me?”
For the greatness of your iniquity
^(J)Your skirts have been uncovered,
Your heels ^[b]made bare.
²³Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?
Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.

²⁴“Therefore I will ^(K)scatter them ^(L)like stubble
That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
²⁵^(M)This is your lot,
The portion of your measures from Me,” says the Lord,
“Because you have forgotten Me
And trusted in ^(N)falsehood.
²⁶Therefore ^(O)I will uncover your skirts over your face,
That your shame may appear.
²⁷I have seen your adulteries
And your lustful ^(P)neighings,
The lewdness of your harlotry,
Your abominations ^(Q)on the hills in the fields.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
Will you still not be made clean?”