12“Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’ 13then say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness! 14“I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares the LORD. “I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.”’”

15Listen and give heed, do not be haughty,
         For the LORD has spoken.

16Give glory to the LORD your God,
         Before He brings darkness
         And before your feet stumble
         On the dusky mountains,
         And while you are hoping for light
         He makes it into deep darkness,
         And turns it into gloom.

17But if you will not listen to it,
         My soul will sob in secret for such pride;
         And my eyes will bitterly weep
         And flow down with tears,
         Because the flock of the LORD has been taken captive.

18Say to the king and the queen mother,
         “Take a lowly seat,
         For your beautiful crown
         Has come down from your head.”

19The cities of the Negev have been locked up,
         And there is no one to open them;
         All Judah has been carried into exile,
         Wholly carried into exile.

20“Lift up your eyes and see
         Those coming from the north.
         Where is the flock that was given you,
         Your beautiful sheep?

21“What will you say when He appoints over you—
         And you yourself had taught them—
         Former companions to be head over you?
         Will not pangs take hold of you
         Like a woman in childbirth?

22“If you say in your heart,
         ‘Why have these things happened to me?’
         Because of the magnitude of your iniquity
         Your skirts have been removed
         And your heels have been exposed.

23“Can the Ethiopian change his skin
         Or the leopard his spots?
         Then you also can do good
         Who are accustomed to doing evil.

24“Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw
         To the desert wind.

25“This is your lot, the portion measured to you
         From Me,” declares the LORD,
         “Because you have forgotten Me
         And trusted in falsehood.

26“So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face,
         That your shame may be seen.

27“As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings,
         The lewdness of your prostitution
         On the hills in the field,
         I have seen your abominations.
         Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
         How long will you remain unclean?”

NASB ©1995