Jeremiah 13
International Standard Version
Jeremiah’s Linen Belt
13 This is what the Lord told me: “Go and buy a linen belt for yourself, and put it around your waist.[a] But don’t let it get wet.” 2 So I bought the belt according to the Lord’s instruction, and put it around my waist.
3 Then this message from the Lord came to me a second time: 4 Take the belt that you bought and that is around your waist. Get up and go to the Euphrates,[b] and hide it there in a crevice in the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it at the Euphrates,[c] just as the Lord had commanded me.
6 After a long time,[d] the Lord told me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates,[e] and get the belt that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 I went to the Euphrates and dug it up. I got the belt from the place where I had hidden it. The belt was ruined! It was not good for anything.
8 Then this message from the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I’ll ruin the pride of Judah and the pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people that refuses to listen to my words, that stubbornly pursues their own desires,[f] and that follows other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt that is not good for anything. 11 For just as the belt clings tightly to a person’s waist, so I’ve made all the people[g] of Israel and all the people[h] of Judah cling tightly to me,’ declares the Lord. ‘I did this[i] so that they would be my people, name, praise, and glory. But they wouldn’t listen.’
The Wineskins
12 “This is what you’re to tell them: ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: “Every wineskin is to be filled with wine.”’ When they say to you, ‘Don’t we know very well that every wineskin is to be filled with wine?’, 13 then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I’m about to make all the inhabitants of this land drunk—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the residents of Jerusalem. 14 I’ll smash them against each other, even fathers against their sons,”[j] declares the Lord. “I’ll have no pity, mercy, or compassion when I destroy them.”’”
15 Listen and pay attention![k]
Don’t be proud, for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God
before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble on the
mountains at twilight.
You hope for light,
but he turns it into deep darkness.
He changes it into heavy gloom.
17 If you don’t listen, I’ll cry secretly
because of your pride.
My eyes will cry bitterly, flowing tears,
because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and the queen mother,[l]
“Come take a lowly seat,
because your beautiful crowns have fallen off your heads.”
19 The towns in the Negev[m] will be closed up,
and there will be no one to open them.
All Judah will be taken into exile
and be completely exiled.
20 “Look up and see those who are coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you—
your beautiful sheep?
21 What will you say when the Lord[n]
appoints over you as your head
those whom you taught to be your allies?[o]
Pain will seize you like that seizing a woman
about to give birth, will it not?
22 When you say to yourselves,
‘Why have all these things happened to me?’
It’s because of the extent of your iniquity
that your skirt has been lifted up,
and your heels have suffered violence.[p]
23 Can an Ethiopian change his skin,
or a leopard his spots?
Then you who are trained to do evil
will also be able to do good.
24 I’ll scatter them like chaff
blown away by a desert wind.
25 “This is your fate,
the portion I’ve measured out for you,”
declares the Lord,
“because you have forgotten me
and have trusted in false gods.[q]
26 I’ll also pull your skirt up over your face,
so your shame will be seen,
27 I’ve seen your detestable behavior:
your adulteries, your passionate neighing,
your lewd immorality on the hills in the field.
How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem!
You are unclean. How much longer will this go on?”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 13:1 Or loins
- Jeremiah 13:4 Or Perath
- Jeremiah 13:5 Or Perath
- Jeremiah 13:6 Lit. At the end of many days
- Jeremiah 13:6 Or Perath
- Jeremiah 13:10 Lit. that walks in the stubbornness of their hearts
- Jeremiah 13:11 Lit. house
- Jeremiah 13:11 Lit. house
- Jeremiah 13:11 The Heb. lacks I did this
- Jeremiah 13:14 Lit. fathers and sons together
- Jeremiah 13:15 Lit. give ear
- Jeremiah 13:18 I.e. the king’s mother
- Jeremiah 13:19 I.e. southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
- Jeremiah 13:21 Lit. he
- Jeremiah 13:21 I.e. the Babylonians
- Jeremiah 13:22 I.e. you have been violated
- Jeremiah 13:25 Or deception
Jeremiah 13
Lexham English Bible
The Linen Loincloth
13 Thus Yahweh said to me: “Go and buy for yourself a loincloth of linen and put it on your loins, but you must not place[a] it in water.” 2 So I bought the loincloth according to the word of Yahweh and I put it[b] on my loins.
3 Now the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying,[c] 4 “Take the loincloth that you bought, that is on your loins, and stand up, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in the cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates just as Yahweh had commanded me.
6 And then,[d] after a long time,[e] then Yahweh said to me, “Stand up, go to the Euphrates and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates and I dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it, and look, the loincloth was ruined; it was not good for anything.
8 And then[f] the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,[g] 9 “Thus says Yahweh: ‘So I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to listen to my words, who go[h] in the stubbornness of their hearts,[i] and have gone after other gods, to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, let them be like this loincloth which is not good for anything. 11 For as the loincloth clings to the loins of a person, so I caused to cling to me all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah,’ declares[j] Yahweh, ‘to be for me a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.’
12 “Therefore, you shall say to them this word, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: “Every jar must be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every jar should be filled with wine?’ 13 Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Look, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings who sit on David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness. 14 And I will smash them, each one against his brother, and the fathers and the sons together,” declares[k] Yahweh. “I will not have compassion, and I will not take pity, and I will not show compassion from destroying them.”’”
15 Listen, and pay attention,
you must not be haughty, for Yahweh has spoken.
16 Give glory to Yahweh your God before[l] he brings darkness,
and before[m] your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight.
And you will hope for light, but he makes it as gloom,
he makes it[n] as thick darkness.
17 But if you will not listen to it,
my inner self[o] will weep in secret places,
because of the presence of[p] your pride.
And my eyes[q] will weep bitterly,
and they will melt in tears,
because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive.
A Message for the King and the Queen Mother
18 “Say to the king and to the queen mother, ‘Take a lower seat,[r]
for your beautiful crown[s] has come down from your head.’[t]
19 The towns of the Negev are shut up,
and there is no one who opens them.[u]
All of Judah is deported;
it is deported in completeness.
20 Lift up your eyes
and see those coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
your magnificent flock?[v]
21 What will you say when he sets over you—
and you have taught them—allies as head over you?
Will not labor pains take hold of you,
like a woman giving birth?
22 And if you say in your heart,
‘Why have these things happened to me?’
Because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered;
your heels have endured violence.
23 Can a Cushite change his skin,
or a leopard his spots?
Then you also will be able to do good,
who are accustomed to doing evil.
24 And I will scatter them
like stubble scattered by the wind of the desert.[w]
25 This is your lot,
the portion of your measure from me,” declares[x] Yahweh,
“because you have forgotten me,
and you have trusted in the lie.
26 So in turn I will bare your skirts over your face,
and your shame will become visible.
27 Your adulteries, and your neighings,
the shameful behavior of your fornications
on the hills in the countryside,
I have seen your abominations.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you continue to be unclean?[y]”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 13:1 Literally “bring”
- Jeremiah 13:2 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 13:3 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 13:6 Literally “And it happened”
- Jeremiah 13:6 Literally “from the end of many days”
- Jeremiah 13:8 Literally “And it happened”
- Jeremiah 13:8 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 13:10 Or “walk”
- Jeremiah 13:10 Hebrew “heart”
- Jeremiah 13:11 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 13:14 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 13:16 Literally “at not yet”
- Jeremiah 13:16 Literally “at not yet”
- Jeremiah 13:16 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 13:17 Or “soul”
- Jeremiah 13:17 Literally “the face of”
- Jeremiah 13:17 Hebrew “eye”
- Jeremiah 13:18 Literally “Bring low sit”
- Jeremiah 13:18 Literally “the crown of your beauty”
- Jeremiah 13:18 Or “at the head of you”
- Jeremiah 13:19 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 13:20 Literally “the flock of your splendor”
- Jeremiah 13:24 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 13:25 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 13:27 Literally “Not you are clean after how long still”
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