Jeremiah 13
13
Judah’s Corruption.#In this symbolic action, Jeremiah probably went to the village and spring of Parah, two and a half miles northeast of Anathoth, whose name closely resembled the Hebrew name of the river Euphrates (Perath), in order to dramatize the religious corruption of Judah at the hands of the Babylonians. 1The Lord said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth; wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water. 2I bought the loincloth, as the Lord commanded, and put it on. 3A second time the word of the Lord came to me thus: 4Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing, and go at once to the Perath; hide it there in a cleft of the rock. 5Obedient to the Lord’s command, I went to the Perath and buried the loincloth. 6After a long time, the Lord said to me: Go now to the Perath and fetch the loincloth which I told you to hide there. 7So I went to the Perath, looked for the loincloth and took it from the place I had hidden it. But it was rotted, good for nothing! 8Then the word came to me from the Lord: 9Thus says the Lord: So also I will allow the pride of Judah to rot, the great pride of Jerusalem.#Prv 16:18. 10This wicked people who refuse to obey my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and follow other gods, serving and worshiping them, will be like this loincloth, good for nothing.#Jer 2:20; 7:24; 16:11. 11For, as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me—oracle of the Lord—to be my people, my fame, my praise, my glory. But they did not listen.#Ex 19:5; Dt 26:18–19.
The Broken Wineflask. 12Now speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Every wineflask should be filled with wine. If they reply, “Do we not know that every wineflask should be filled with wine?” 13say to them: Thus says the Lord: Beware! I am making all the inhabitants of this land drunk, the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests and prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.#Jer 25:15–18; Is 51:17. 14I will smash them against each other, parents and children together—oracle of the Lord—showing no compassion, I will neither spare nor pity, but I will destroy them.#Jer 19:10–11.
A Last Warning
15Listen and give ear, do not be arrogant,
for the Lord speaks.
16Give glory to the Lord, your God,
before he brings darkness;
Before your feet stumble
on mountains at twilight;
Before the light you look for turns to darkness,
changes into black clouds.#Prv 4:18–19; Is 5:30; Am 8:9.
17If you do not listen to this in your pride,
I will weep many tears in secret;
My eyes will run with tears
for the Lord’s flock, led away to exile.#Jer 14:17; Ps 119:136.
Exile
18Say to the king and to the queen mother:
come down from your throne;
From your heads
your splendid crowns will fall.#Jer 22:26; 2 Kgs 24:12, 15.
19The cities of the Negeb are besieged,
with no one to relieve them;
Judah is taken into exile—all of it—
in total exile.
Jerusalem’s Disgrace
20Lift up your eyes and see
those coming in from the north.
Where is the flock entrusted to you,
your splendid sheep?#Jer 6:22–23.
21What will you say when rulers are appointed over you,
those you taught to be allies?
Will not pains seize you
like those of a woman giving birth?#2 Kgs 16:7.
22If you say to yourself:
“Why have these things happened to me?”
For your great guilt your skirts are stripped away
and you are violated.#Is 47:2–3.
23Can Ethiopians change their skin,
leopards their spots?
As easily would you be able to do good,
accustomed to evil as you are.#Ps 55:20.
24I will scatter them like chaff that flies
on the desert wind.#Ps 1:4; 83:14.
25This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you—
oracle of the Lord.
Because you have forgotten me,
and trusted in deception,#Heb. sheqer: lit., “deception,” often used to designate an idol. #Jb 20:29.
26I now will strip away your skirts,
so that your shame is visible.#Ez 16:32.
27Your adulteries, your neighings,
your shameless prostitutions:
On the hills, in the fields
I see your detestable crimes.
Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will it be
before you are clean?#Jer 2:20.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Jeremiah 13
13
1 Thus says the Lord to me: "Go, and obtain for yourself a linen waistcloth. And you shall place it over your loins, and you shall not put it into water."
2 And so I obtained a waistcloth, according to the word of the Lord, and I placed it around my loins.
3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying:
4 "Take the waistcloth, which you obtained, which is around your loins, and, rising up, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in an opening of the rock."
5 And so I went, and I hid it by the Euphrates, just as the Lord had instructed me.
6 And it happened that, after many days, the Lord said to me: "Rise up, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the waistcloth, which I instructed you to hide there."
7 And so I went to the Euphrates, and I dug up and took the waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistcloth had rotted, so that it was not fit for any use.
8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9 "Thus says the Lord: In the same way, I will cause the arrogance of Judah and the arrogance of Jerusalem to rot.
10 This most wicked people, they are not willing to listen to my words, for they walk in the depravity of their own heart, and they have gone after strange gods, so as to serve them and to adore them. And so, they will become like this waistcloth, which is not fit for any use.
11 For just as the waistcloth clings to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me the entire house of Israel and the entire house of Judah, says the Lord, so that they would be to me: a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory. But they did not listen.
12 Therefore, you shall speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'Every bottle will be filled with wine.' And they will say to you: 'Are we ignorant that every bottle will be filled with wine?'
13 And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings from the stock of David who sit upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, unto inebriation.
14 And I will scatter them, a man from his brother, and fathers and sons similarly, says the Lord. I will not spare them, and I will not pardon them, and I will not take pity, so as not to destroy them."
15 Hear and pay close attention. Do not choose to lift yourself up, for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God, before darkness falls, and before your feet stumble on the darkened mountains. You will expect light, but he will turn it into the shadow of death and into utter darkness.
17 But if you will not listen to this, then my soul will weep in secret before the face of your pride. It will weep bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.
18 "Say to the king and to the female ruler: Humble yourselves, sit down. For the crown of your glory has gone down from your head.
19 The cities of the south have been closed, and there is no one who may open them. All of Judah has been taken away into complete captivity.
20 Lift up your eyes and see, you who are arriving from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your famous cattle?
21 What will you say when he visits upon you? For you have taught them against you, and you have instructed them with your own head. Will not pains take hold of you, as with a woman in labor?
22 But if you say in your heart, 'Why have these things happened to me?' it is because of the greatness of your iniquity that your shame has been uncovered and the soles of your feet have been defiled.
23 If the Ethiopian is able to change his skin, or the leopard is able to change his spots, then you also may be able to do well, though you have learned evil.
24 And I will scatter them like chaff, which is carried away by the wind in the desert.
25 This is your lot, and this is the portion of your measure from me, says the Lord, because you have forgotten me, and you have had confidence in what is false.
26 Therefore, I have even bared your thighs before your face, and your shame has been seen.
27 For I have seen your adulteries, and your neighing for the wickedness of your fornication, and your abominations upon the hills in the field. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How much longer before you will be made clean after me?"
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