Jeremiah 13
13
The Linen Shorts
1The LORD told me to go and buy myself some linen shorts and to put them on; but he told me not to put them in water. 2So I bought them and put them on. 3Then the LORD spoke to me again, and said, 4“Go to the River Euphrates and hide the shorts in a hole in the rocks.” 5So I went and hid them near the Euphrates.
6Some time later the LORD told me to go back to the Euphrates and get the shorts. 7So I went back, and when I found the place where I had hidden them, I saw that they were ruined and were no longer any good.
8Then the LORD spoke to me again. He said, 9“This is how I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10These evil people have refused to obey me. They have been as stubborn and wicked as ever, and have worshipped and served other gods. So then, they will become like these shorts that are no longer any good. 11Just as shorts fit tightly round the waist, so I intended all the people of Israel and Judah to hold tightly to me. I did this so that they would be my people and would bring praise and honour to my name; but they would not obey me.”
The Wine Jar
12The LORD God said to me, “Jeremiah, tell the people of Israel that every wine jar should be filled with wine. They will answer that they know every wine jar should be filled with wine. 13Then tell them that I, the LORD, am going to fill the people in this land with wine until they are drunk: the kings, who are David's descendants, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem. 14Then I will smash them like jars against one another, old and young alike. No pity, compassion, or mercy will stop me from killing them.”
Jeremiah Warns against Pride
15People of Israel, the LORD has spoken!
Be humble and listen to him.
16Honour the LORD, your God,
before he brings darkness,
and you stumble on the mountains;
before he turns into deep darkness
the light you hoped for.
17If you will not listen,
I will cry in secret because of your pride;
I will cry bitterly, and my tears will flow
because the LORD's people have been taken away as captives.
18The LORD said to me, “Tell the king and his mother to come down from their thrones, because their beautiful crowns have fallen from their heads.#13.18 Some ancient translations from their heads; Hebrew unclear. 19The towns of southern Judah are under siege; no one can get through to them. All the people of Judah have been taken away into exile.”
20Jerusalem, look! Your enemies are coming down from the north! Where are the people entrusted to your care, your people you were so proud of? 21What will you say when people you thought were your friends conquer you and rule over you?#13.21 Probable text What… over you; Hebrew unclear. You will be in pain like a woman giving birth. 22If you ask why all this has happened to you — why your clothes have been torn off and you have been raped — it is because your sin is so terrible. 23Can a Nubian change the colour of his skin, or a leopard remove its spots? If they could, then you that do nothing but evil could learn to do what is right. 24The LORD will scatter you like straw that is blown away by the desert wind. 25He has said that this will be your fate. This is what he has decided to do with you, because you have forgotten him and have trusted in false gods. 26The LORD himself will strip off your clothes and expose you to shame. 27He has seen you do the things he hates. He has seen you go after pagan gods on the hills and in the fields, like a man lusting after his neighbour's wife or like a stallion after a mare. People of Jerusalem, you are doomed! When will you ever be pure?
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Jeremiah 13: GNBDC
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremias (Jeremiah) 13
13
1Thus saith the Lord to me: Go, and get thee a linen girdle, and thou shalt put it about thy loins and shalt not put it into water.
2And I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord and put it about my loins.
3And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying:
4Take the girdle which thou hast got, which is about thy loins, and arise. And go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
5And I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me.
6And it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me: Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from thence the girdle which I commanded thee to hide there.
7And I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle out of the place where I had hid it: and behold, the girdle was rotten, so that it was fit for no use.
8And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9Thus saith the Lord: After this manner will I make the pride of Juda and the great pride of Jerusalem to rot.
10This wicked people, that will not hear my words and that walk in the perverseness of their heart and have gone after strange gods to serve them and to adore them: and they shall be as this girdle which is fit for no use.
11For as the girdle sticketh close to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me all of the house of Israel and all the house of Juda, saith the Lord: that they might be my people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory. But they would not hear.
12Thou shalt speak therefore to them this word: Thus saith the Lord, God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to thee: Do we not know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings of the race of David that sit upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14And I will scatter them every man from his brother, and fathers and sons in like manner, saith the Lord. I will not spare and I will not pardon: nor will I have mercy not to destroy them.
15Hear ye, and give ear: Be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken.
16Give ye glory to the Lord your God, before it be dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains. You shall look for light and he will turn it into the shadow of death and into darkness.
17But if you will not hear this, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride: weeping it shall weep, and my eyes shall run down the tears, because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive.
18Say to the king and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down: for the crown of your glory is come down from your head.
19The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them: all Juda is carried away captive with an entire captivity.
20Lift up your eyes and see, you that come from the north. Where is the flock that is given thee, thy beautiful cattle?
21What wilt thou say when he shall visit thee? For thou hast taught them against thee and instructed them against thy own head. Shall not sorrows lay hold on thee, as a woman in labour?
22And if thou shalt say in thy heart: Why are these things come upon me? For the greatness of thy iniquity, thy nakedness is discovered, the soles of thy feet are defiled.
23If the Ethiopian can change his skin or the leopard his spots: you may also do well when you have learned evil.
24And I will scatter them as stubble, which is carried away by the wind in the desert.
25This is thy lot and the portion of thy measure from me, saith the Lord, because thou hast forgotten me and hast trusted in falsehood.
26Wherefore, I have also bared my thighs against thy face: and thy shame hath appeared.
27I have seen thy adulteries and thy neighing, the wickedness of thy fornication and thy abominations upon the hills in the field. Woe to thee, Jerusalem! Wilt thou not be made clean after me. How long yet?
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.