Jeremiah 13:21-23
Easy-to-Read Version
21 I will let your enemies become your rulers—
people you once trusted with your secrets.
What will you say then?
Surely you will feel great pain,
like a woman giving birth.
22 You might ask yourself,
“Why has this bad thing happened to me?”
It happened because of your many sins.
Because of your sins, your skirt was torn off,
and your sandals were taken away.
They did this to embarrass you.
23 A black man cannot change the color of his skin,
and a leopard cannot change its spots.
In the same way, Jerusalem, you cannot change and do good.
You always do bad things.
Jeremiah 13:21-23
New International Version
21 What will you say when the Lord sets over you
those you cultivated as your special allies?(A)
Will not pain grip you
like that of a woman in labor?(B)
22 And if you ask yourself,
“Why has this happened to me?”(C)—
it is because of your many sins(D)
that your skirts have been torn off(E)
and your body mistreated.(F)
23 Can an Ethiopian[a] change his skin
or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.(G)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 13:23 Hebrew Cushite (probably a person from the upper Nile region)
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