Jeremiah 13
13
Jeremiah's Linen Shorts
1The Lord told me, “Go and buy a pair of linen shorts. Wear them for a while, but don't wash them.” 2So I bought a pair of shorts and put them on.
3Then the Lord said, 4“Take off the shorts. Go to Parah#13.4 Parah: Or “the Euphrates River.” Parah was a village about nine kilometers northeast of Jerusalem. and hide the shorts in a crack between some large rocks.” 5And that's what I did.
6Some time later the Lord said, “Go back and get the shorts.” 7I went back and dug the shorts out of their hiding place, but the cloth had rotted, and the shorts were ruined.
8Then the Lord said:
9Jeremiah, I will use Babylonia to#13.9 I will use Babylonia to: Or “that's how I'm going to.” destroy the pride of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. 10The people of Judah are evil and stubborn. So instead of listening to me, they do whatever they want and even worship other gods. When I am finished with these people, they will be good for nothing, just like this pair of shorts. 11These shorts were tight around your waist, and that's how tightly I held onto the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. I wanted them to be my people. I wanted to make them famous, so that other nations would praise and honor me, but they refused to obey me.
Wine Jars
The Lord said:
12Jeremiah, tell the people of Judah, “The Lord God of Israel orders you to fill your wine jars with wine.”
They will answer, “Of course we fill our wine jars with wine! Why are you telling us something we already know?”
13Then say to them:
I am the Lord, and what I'm going to do will make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem appear to be full of wine. And the worst ones will be the kings of David's family and the priests and the prophets. 14Then I will smash them against each other like jars. I will have no pity on the young or the old, and they will all be destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken.
The People of Judah Will Be Taken Away
15People of Judah,
don't be too proud to listen
to what the Lord has said.
16You hope for light,
but God is sending darkness.
Evening shadows already deepen
in the hills.
So return to God
and confess your sins to him
before you trip and fall.
17If you are too proud to listen,
I will weep alone.
Tears will stream from my eyes
when the Lord's people
are taken away as prisoners.
18The Lord told me to tell you
that your king and his mother#13.18 mother: The king's mother usually had an important position in the royal court.
must surrender their thrones
and remove their crowns.#13.18 and remove their crowns: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
19The cities in the Southern Desert
are surrounded;
no one can get in or out.
Everyone in Judah
will be taken away.
20Jerusalem, you were so proud
of ruling the people of Judah.
But where are they now?
Look north, and you will see
your enemies approaching.
21You once trusted them to help,
but now I'll let them rule you.#13.21 You once … rule you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
What do you say about that?
You will be in pain
like a woman giving birth.
22Do you know why
your clothes were torn off
and you were abused?
It was because
of your terrible sins.
23Can you ever change
and do what's right?
Can people change the color
of their skin,
or can a leopard
remove its spots?
If so, then maybe you can change
and learn to do right.
24I will scatter you,
just as the desert wind
blows husks from grain
tossed in the air.
25I won't change my mind.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
You rejected me
and worshiped false gods.
* 26You were married to me,
but you were unfaithful.
You even became a prostitute#13.26 prostitute: See the note at 2.20.
by worshiping disgusting gods
on hilltops and in fields.
27So I'll rip off your clothes
and leave you naked and ashamed
for everyone to see.
You are doomed!
Will you ever be worthy
to worship me again?
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Jeremiah 13: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Yirmeyahu (Jer) 13
13
1Adonai said to me, “Go, buy yourself a linen loincloth, and wrap it around your body; but don’t soften it in water.” 2So I bought a loincloth, as Adonai had said, and put it on.
3Then the word of Adonai came to me a second time: 4“Take the loincloth you bought and are wearing, get up, go to Parah, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.” 5So I went and hid it in Parah, as Adonai had ordered me.
6A long time afterwards, Adonai said to me, “Get up, go to Parah, and recover the loincloth I ordered you to hide there.” 7So I went to Parah and dug up the loincloth; but when I took it from the place where I had hidden it, I saw that it was ruined and useless for anything. 8Then the word of Adonai came to me: 9“Here is what Adonai says: ‘This is how I will ruin what makes Y’hudah so proud and Yerushalayim so very proud: 10I will ruin this evil people, who refuse to hear my words and live according to their own stubborn inclinations, who go after other gods to serve and worship them. They will be like this loincloth, which is useless for anything. 11For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s body, I made the whole house of Isra’el and the whole house of Y’hudah cling to me,’ says Adonai, ‘so that they could be my people, building me a name and becoming for me a source of praise and honor. But they would not listen. 12So you are to tell them, “This is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘Every bottle is filled with wine.’” Then when they ask you, “Don’t we already know that every bottle is filled with wine?” 13you are to answer them, “This is what Adonai says: ‘I am going to fill all the inhabitants of this land — including the kings sitting on the throne of David, the cohanim, the prophets and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim — with drunkenness. 14Then I will smash them one against another, even fathers and sons together,’ says Adonai ‘I will show neither pity nor compassion, but I will destroy them relentlessly.’”’”
15Listen and pay attention; don’t be proud!
For Adonai has spoken.
16Give glory to Adonai your God
before the darkness falls,
before your feet stumble
on the mountains in the twilight,
and, while you are seeking light,
he turns it into deathlike shadows
and makes it completely dark.
17But if you will not hear this warning,
I will weep secretly because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly, streaming with tears,
because Adonai’s flock is carried away captive.
18Tell the king and the queen mother,
“Come down from your thrones,
for your magnificent crowns
are falling from your heads.”
19The cities of the Negev are besieged,
and no one can relieve them;
all of Y’hudah is carried into exile,
completely swept into exile.
20Raise your eyes, and you will see them
coming from the north.
Where is the flock once entrusted to you,
the sheep that were your pride?
21When he sets over you as rulers
those you trained to be allies,
what will you say? Won’t pains seize you
like those of a woman in labor?
22And if you ask yourself,
“Why have these things happened to me?”
it is because of your many sins
that your skirts are pulled up and you have been violated.
23Can an Ethiopian change his skin?
or a leopard its spots?
If they can, then you can do good,
who are so accustomed to doing evil.
24“So I will scatter them like chaff
that flies away in the desert wind.
25This is what you get,” says Adonai,
“the portion I measure out to you,
because you have forgotten me
and trusted in the lie.
26I myself will lift your skirts above your face,
and your privates will be exposed.
27On the hills and in the fields,
I have seen your abominations —
your adulteries, your lustful neighings
your shameless prostitution.
Woe to you, Yerushalayim!
You refuse to be purified!
Won’t you ever allow it?”
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