Jeremiah 13
13
1This is what the Lord told me to do: Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it on, but don't wash it. 2So I went and bought a loincloth as the Lord had instructed me, and I put it on.
3Then the Lord gave me another message: 4Take the loincloth that you bought and put on, and go immediately to the River Perath#13:4. The River Perath in Hebrew is usually translated as the Euphrates. However, this would mean Jeremiah going on two round trips of some 700 miles each. Some have suggested that the river in question was one with a similar name located near to Anathoth. Insofar as this is an acted parable it seems likely that others were supposed to see what happened and understand what it meant, so the actual Euphrates seems an unlikely location. However, the symbolic aspect must be included since the invaders would be coming from Babylon on the Euphrates. and hide it there in a hole among the rocks. 5So I went and hid it at the River Perath, as the Lord had told me.
6A long time later the Lord told me, Go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I ordered you to hide there. 7I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and removed it from where I'd hidden it. Obviously it was ruined—completely useless.
8Then a message from the Lord came to me: 9This is what the Lord says: I will ruin the arrogance of Judah and the great arrogance of Jerusalem in exactly the same way. 10These evil people refuse to listen to what I tell them. They follow their own stubborn and evil thinking and run off to worship other gods—they will be like this loincloth, completely useless.
11In the same way that a loincloth holds tightly to the body, so I made all the people of Israel and Judah hold tightly to me, declares the Lord. Then they could have been my people, representing me, giving me honor and praise. But they refused to listen.
12So tell them this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wine jar shall be filled with wine.
When they reply, “Don't we know that already? Of course every wine jar should be filled with wine!” 13then tell them that this is what the Lord says: I'm going to make everyone who lives in this land drunk—the kings sitting on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem. 14I'm going to smash them against each other like wine jars,#13:14. “Like wine jars”: supplied for clarity. both parents and children, declares the Lord. I won't let any mercy or pity or compassion stop me from destroying them.
15Listen and pay attention. Don't be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken. 16Honor the Lord your God before he brings the darkness, before you trip and fall in the twilight on the mountains. You long for light to come, but he sends only gloom and complete darkness.
17But if you refuse to listen, I will weep secretly inside because of your pride. My tears pour down because the Lord's flock has been captured.
18Tell the king and the queen mother: Get down from your thrones, because your splendid crowns have fallen from your heads. 19The towns in the Negev are surrounded; no one can get through to them. The whole of Judah has been taken away into exile, everyone has been exiled. 20Look up and you'll see the invaders coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you to look after? Where are the sheep you were so proud of? 21What are you going to say when he puts your enemies in charge of you, people you once counted as your friends? Won't you suffer pains like a woman in labor?
22If you say to yourself, Why has this happened to me? it's because you have been so wicked. That's why your skirts were stripped off and you were raped. 23Can Ethiopians change the color of their skin? Can a leopard change its spots? In the same way you can't change and do good because you're so used to doing evil.
24I'm going to scatter you like chaff blown away by the desert wind. 25This is what's going to happen to you; this is what I have decided to do to you, declares the Lord, because you have forgotten me and believed in lies. 26I will pull your skirts up over your face, so you will be seen naked and ashamed. 27I watched your acts of adultery and lust, how you prostituted yourselves shamelessly, worshiping idols on the hills and in the fields. Yes, I saw the disgusting things you did.
Disaster is coming to you, Jerusalem! How long are you going to remain unclean?
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Jeremiah 13: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Jeremiah 13
13
1 THUS THE Lord said to me: Go and buy yourself a linen girdle and put it on your loins, but do not put it in water.
2 So I bought a girdle or waistcloth, according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying,
4 Take the girdle which you have bought, which is on your loins, and arise, go to the [river] Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.
5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
6 And after many days the Lord said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the girdle which I commanded you to hide there.
7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug and took the girdle or waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the girdle was decayed and spoiled; it was good for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
9 Thus says the Lord: After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 These evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be like this girdle or waistcloth, which is profitable for nothing.
11 For as the girdle clings to the loins of a man, so I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, says the Lord, that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory; but they would not listen or obey.
12 Therefore you shall speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Every bottle and jar should be filled with wine. [The people] will say to you, Do we not certainly know that every bottle and jar should be filled with wine?
13 Then say to them, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit upon David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.
15 Hear and give ear, do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken [says Jeremiah].
16 Give glory to the Lord your God before He brings darkness and before your feet stumble upon the dark and twilit mountains, and [before], while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death and makes it thick darkness.
17 But if you will not hear and obey, I will 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.
18 Say to the king and the queen mother, Humble yourselves and take a lowly seat, for down from your head has come your beautiful crown (the crown of your glory).
19 The cities of the South (the Negeb) have been shut up, and there is no one to open them; all Judah has been carried away captive, it has been wholly taken captive and into exile.
20 Lift up your eyes and behold those [the eruption of a hostile army] who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you [to shepherd], your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say [O Jerusalem] when He [the Lord] sets over you as head those [tyrannical foreign nations] whom you yourselves [at intervals] have taught to be lovers (allies) with you [instructing them, even your friends, to be head over you]? Will not pangs take hold of you like that of a woman in travail?
22 And if you say in your heart, Why have these things come upon me?–[the answer is], Because of the greatness of your iniquity has your long robe been pulled aside [showing you in the garb of a menial] and have you [barefooted and treated like a slave] suffered violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also can you do good who are accustomed and taught [even trained] to do evil.
24 Therefore I will scatter you like chaff driven away by the wind from the desert.
25 This is your lot, the portion measured to you from Me, says the Lord, because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood [false gods and alliances with idolatrous nations].
26 Therefore I Myself will [retaliate], throwing your skirts up over your face, that your shame [of being clad like a slave] may be exposed.
27 I have seen your detestable acts, even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols], and the lewdness of your harlotry on the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! For how long a time yet will you not [meet My conditions and] be made clean?
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation