Jeremiah 13
13
Jeremiah’s Linen Belt
1This is what the Lord said to me: “Buy a linen belt. Put it around your waist. Don’t let it get wet.” 2So I bought the belt, as the Lord had told me, and put it around my waist.
3The Lord spoke his word to me again. He said, 4“Take the belt that you bought, the one you’re wearing. Go to the Euphrates River, and bury it there in a crack in the rocks.” 5So I went and buried it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had told me.
6After many days the Lord said to me, “Go to the Euphrates, and get the belt from where I told you to bury it.” 7So I went back to the Euphrates and dug it up. I got the belt from where I had buried it. Now the belt was ruined. It was good for nothing.
8Then the Lord spoke his word to me. He said, 9“This is what the Lord says: This is how I will destroy Judah’s arrogance and Jerusalem’s extreme arrogance. 10These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They go their own stubborn ways and follow other gods in order to serve them and worship them. They are like this good-for-nothing belt. 11As a belt clings to a person’s waist, so I have made the entire nation of Israel and the entire nation of Judah cling to me,” declares the Lord. “I did this so that they would be my people and bring fame, praise, and honor to me. However, they wouldn’t listen.
12“Give this message to them, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Every bottle will be filled with wine.’ Then they will say to you, ‘We know that every bottle will be filled with wine.’ 13Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m going to make everyone who lives in this land drunk. The kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those who live in Jerusalem will become drunk. 14Then I will smash them like bottles against each other. I will smash parents and children together, declares the Lord. I will have no pity, mercy, or compassion when I destroy them.’ ”
15Listen, and pay attention!
Don’t be arrogant. The Lord has spoken.
16Honor the Lord your God before it gets dark,
before your feet stumble on the mountains in the twilight.
You will look for light,
but the Lord will turn it into the shadow of death
and change it into deep darkness.
17If you won’t listen,
I will cry secretly over your arrogance.
I will cry bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears
because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.
18Say to the king and his mother,
“Come down from your thrones,
because your crowns have fallen off your heads.”
19The cities in the Negev will be locked up,
and there will be no one to reopen them.
All the people of Judah will be taken away into captivity.
20Look up, and see those who are coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you—your beautiful sheep?
21What will you say
when God makes the people you thought were your friends
your new masters?
Won’t pain grip you like a woman in labor?
22If you ask yourself,
“Why do these things happen to me?”
it’s because you have so many sins.
Your clothes have been torn off
and your limbs are bare.
23Can Ethiopians change the color of their skin
or leopards change their spots?
Can you do good
when you’re taught to do wrong?
24“I will scatter you like straw that is blown away by a desert wind.
25This is your fate, the destiny I have planned for you,”
declares the Lord.
“You have forgotten me and trusted false gods.
26I will also tear off your clothes,
and your shame will be seen.
27I have seen you commit adultery and squeal with delight.
I have seen you act like a shameless prostitute
on the hills and in the fields.
How horrible it will be for you, Jerusalem!
Will you ever be clean?” #13:27 “Clean” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is presentable to God.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 13: GW
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 13
13
Linen Waistband and Wine Jugs
1Thus Adonai said to me: “Go, and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, and do not put it in water.”
2So I got a waistband in keeping with the word of Adonai, and put it on my waist.
3Then the word of Adonai came to me a second time, saying:
4“Take the waistband that you bought, which is on your waist, and get up, go to Perath and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.”
5So I went and hid it at Perath, as Adonai commanded me.
6Now it came to pass after many days that Adonai said to me: “Get up, go to Perath, and take the waistband that I commanded you to hide there.”
7So I went to Perath, dug it up and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. But to my surprise, the waistband was marred, worth nothing at all.
8Then the word of Adonai came to me, saying,
9thus says Adonai: “Just so I will mar the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10This wicked people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their own heart, and go after other gods to serve them and worship them, will be just like this waistband—worth nothing at all.
11For just as the waistband clings to a man’s waist, so I will make the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me,” declares Adonai, “to be to Me a people, a name, a praise and a glory. But they would not obey.”
12Moreover, speak this word to them, thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: “Every jug should be filled with wine.” When they say to you, ‘Don’t we know very well that every jug should be filled with wine?’
13Then you will say to them, thus says Adonai, ‘I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the kohanim, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness.
14And I will smash them against each other, even fathers and sons,’ says Adonai. ‘I will show no pity, nor regret, nor compassion, to keep Me from destroying them.’”
Darkness and Downfall
15Hear and give ear! Do not be haughty! For Adonai has spoken.
16Give glory to Adonai your God, before it grows dark, and before your feet stumble on mountains at dusk. When you look for light, He turns it into the shadow of death, and turns it into deep darkness.
17But if you will not listen, my soul will sob in secret before such pride, and my eyes will weep bitterly and overflow with tears, for Adonai’s flock will be taken captive.
18Say to the king and the queen mother: “Sit down low, for your glorious crown has fallen from your head.”
19The towns of the South will be shut up, with no one to open them. All Judah is taken into exile— utterly swept into exile.
20Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock given to you, Your beautiful sheep?
21What will you say, when He sets up the allies you cultivated for yourself, over you as head? Will not labor pains seize you, like a woman in travail?
22Suppose you say in your heart, “Why did these things happen to me?” Because of your great iniquity, your skirts are uncovered and your heels suffer violence.
23Can the Ethiopian change his skin? Or the leopard his spots? So, could you do good, that are accustomed to doing evil?
24“Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw in the desert wind.
25This is your lot, the portion measured for you from Me.” It is a declaration of Adonai. “For you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.
26Therefore I will also uncover your skirts over your face, expose your shame.
27Your adulteries, your lustful neighings, the lewdness of your prostitution— on the hills in the field I have seen your loathsome acts. Oy you, Jerusalem! You are unclean! How much longer?”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society