Jeremiah 13
13
A Linen Belt
1The Lord said to me, “Go and buy a linen belt. Put it around your waist. But do not let it get wet.” 2So I bought a belt, just as the Lord had told me to do. And I put it around my waist.
3Then another message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 4“Take off the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist. Go to Perath. Hide the belt there in a crack in the rocks.” 5So I went and hid it at Perath. I did just as the Lord had told me to do.
6Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go to Perath. Get the belt I told you to hide there.” 7So I went to Perath. I dug up the belt. I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But it had rotted. It was completely useless.
8Then another message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 9“In the same way, I will destroy Judah’s pride. And I will destroy the great pride of Jerusalem. 10These people are evil. They refuse to listen to what I say. They do what their stubborn hearts want them to do. They chase after other gods. They serve them and worship them. So they will be like this belt. They will be completely useless. 11A belt is tied around a person’s waist. In the same way, I tied all the people of Israel to me. I also tied all the people of Judah to me like a belt. I wanted them to be my people. They should have brought me fame and praise and honor. But they have not listened to me,” announces the Lord.
Wineskins
12“Tell them, ‘The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, “Every wineskin should be filled with wine.” ’ Here is what the people might say to you. ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ 13If they do, here is what you must tell them. ‘The Lord says, “I am going to fill with wine everyone who lives in this land. I will make the kings who sit on David’s throne drunk. And I will fill with wine the priests, the prophets and everyone who lives in Jerusalem. 14I will smash them against one another. I will punish parents and children alike,” announces the Lord. “I will not feel sorry for them. I will not show them any kindness. My tender love for them will not keep me from destroying them.” ’ ”
Judah Will Be Taken Away From Their Land
15People of Judah, listen to me.
Pay attention and don’t be proud.
The Lord has spoken.
16Give glory to the Lord your God.
Honor him before he sends
darkness to cover the land.
Do this before you trip and fall
on the darkened hills.
You hope that light will come.
But he will turn it into thick darkness.
He will change it to deep shadows.
17If you don’t listen,
I will weep in secret.
Because you are so proud,
I will weep bitterly.
Tears will flow from my eyes.
The Lord’s flock will be taken away as prisoners.
18Speak to the king and his mother. Tell them,
“Come down from your thrones.
Your glorious crowns
are about to fall from your heads.”
19The gates of the cities in the Negev Desert will be shut tight.
There won’t be anyone to open them.
Everyone in Judah will be carried away as prisoners.
You will be completely taken away.
20Jerusalem, look up!
Your enemies are coming from the north.
Where is the flock you were supposed to take care of?
Where are the sheep you were so proud of?
21You have worked hard to make special friends.
But the Lord will let them rule over you.
Then what will you say?
Suffering will take hold of you.
It will be like the pain of a woman having a baby.
22Suppose you ask yourself,
“Why has this happened to me?”
It’s because you have committed so many sins.
That’s the reason your skirt has been torn off.
That’s why your body has been treated so badly.
23Can people from Ethiopia change their skin?
Can leopards change their spots?
It’s the same with you.
You have always done what is evil.
So how can you do what is good?
24The Lord says, “I will scatter you like straw
that the desert wind blows away.
25This is what will happen to you.
I have appointed it for you,” announces the Lord.
“You have forgotten me.
You have trusted in other gods.
26So I will pull your skirt up over your face.
Then people will see the shame of your naked body.
27They will see that you have not been faithful to me.
You have committed adultery with other gods.
And you have acted like a prostitute
who does not have any shame.
I have seen what you did
on the hills and in the fields.
And I hate it.
How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem!
How long will you choose to be ‘unclean’?”
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Jeremiah 13: NIrV
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Jeremiah 13
13
The Linen Loincloth
1Thus Yahweh said to me: “Go and buy for yourself a loincloth of linen and put it on your loins, but you must not place#Literally “bring” it in water.” 2So I bought the loincloth according to the word of Yahweh and I put it#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation on my loins.
3Now the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying,#Literally “to say” 4“Take the loincloth that you bought, that is on your loins, and stand up, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in the cleft of the rock.” 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates just as Yahweh had commanded me.
6And then,#Literally “And it happened” after a long time,#Literally “from the end of many days” then Yahweh said to me, “Stand up, go to the Euphrates and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7Then I went to the Euphrates and I dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it, and look, the loincloth was ruined; it was not good for anything.
8And then#Literally “And it happened” the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,#Literally “to say” 9“Thus says Yahweh: ‘So I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10This evil people, who refuse to listen to my words, who go#Or “walk” in the stubbornness of their hearts,#Hebrew “heart” and have gone after other gods, to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, let them be like this loincloth which is not good for anything. 11For as the loincloth clings to the loins of a person, so I caused to cling to me all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah,’ declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, ‘to be for me a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.’
12“Therefore, you shall say to them this word, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: “Every jar must be filled with wine.” ’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every jar should be filled with wine?’ 13Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Look, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings who sit on David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness. 14And I will smash them, each one against his brother, and the fathers and the sons together,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh. “I will not have compassion, and I will not take pity, and I will not show compassion from destroying them.” ’ ”
15Listen, and pay attention,
you must not be haughty, for Yahweh has spoken.
16Give glory to Yahweh your God before#Literally “at not yet” he brings darkness,
and before#Literally “at not yet” your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight.
And you will hope for light, but he makes it as gloom,
he makes it#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation as thick darkness.
17But if you will not listen to it,
my inner self#Or “soul” will weep in secret places,
because of the presence of#Literally “the face of” your pride.
And my eyes#Hebrew “eye” will weep bitterly,
and they will melt in tears,
because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive.
A Message for the King and the Queen Mother
18“Say to the king and to the queen mother, ‘Take a lower seat,#Literally “Bring low sit”
for your beautiful crown#Literally “the crown of your beauty” has come down from your head.’#Or “at the head of you”
19The towns of the Negev are shut up,
and there is no one who opens them.#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
All of Judah is deported;
it is deported in completeness.
20Lift up your eyes
and see those coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
your magnificent flock?#Literally “the flock of your splendor”
21What will you say when he sets over you—
and you have taught them—allies as head over you?
Will not labor pains take hold of you,
like a woman giving birth?
22And if you say in your heart,
‘Why have these things happened to me?’
Because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered;
your heels have endured violence.
23Can a Cushite change his skin,
or a leopard his spots?
Then you also will be able to do good,
who are accustomed to doing evil.
24And I will scatter them
like stubble scattered by the wind of the desert.#Or “wilderness”
25This is your lot,
the portion of your measure from me,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“because you have forgotten me,
and you have trusted in the lie.
26So in turn I will bare your skirts over your face,
and your shame will become visible.
27Your adulteries, and your neighings,
the shameful behavior of your fornications
on the hills in the countryside,
I have seen your abominations.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you continue to be unclean?#Literally “Not you are clean after how long still””
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