Jeremiah 13-15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Linen Loincloth
13 Thus said the Lord to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it on your loins, but do not dip it in water.”(A) 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord and put it on my loins.(B) 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, 4 “Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Euphrates,[a] and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.”(C) 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates,[b] as the Lord commanded me.(D) 6 And after many days the Lord said to me, “Go now to the Euphrates,[c] and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates[d] and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. But now the loincloth was ruined; it was good for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 Thus says the Lord: Just so I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.(E) 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own will and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing.(F) 11 For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord, in order that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen.(G)
Symbol of the Wine Jars
12 You shall speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Every wine jar should be filled with wine. And they will say to you, “Do you think we do not know that every wine jar should be filled with wine?” 13 Then you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness.(H) 14 And I will dash them one against another, parents and children together, says the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion when I destroy them.(I)
Exile Threatened
15 Hear and give ear; do not be haughty,
for the Lord has spoken.(J)
16 Give glory to the Lord your God
before he brings darkness
and before your feet stumble
on the mountains at twilight;
while you look for light,
he turns it into gloom
and makes it deep darkness.(K)
17 But if you will not listen,
my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears
because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.(L)
18 Say to the king and the queen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for your beautiful crown
has come down from your head.”[e](M)
19 The towns of the Negeb are shut up,
with no one to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
wholly taken into exile.(N)
20 Lift up your eyes and see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
your beautiful flock?(O)
21 What will you say when they set as head over you
those whom you have trained
to be your allies?
Will not pangs seize you
like those of a woman in labor?(P)
22 And if you say in your heart,
“Why have these things come upon me?”
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
that your skirts are lifted up
and you are violated.(Q)
23 Can Cushites change their skin
or leopards their spots?
Then also you can do good,
who are accustomed to do evil.(R)
24 I will scatter you[f] like chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.(S)
25 This is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, says the Lord,
because you have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.(T)
26 I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.(U)
27 I have seen your abominations,
your adulteries and neighings, your shameless prostitutions
on the hills of the countryside.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be
before you are made clean?(V)
The Great Drought
14 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:(W)
2 Judah mourns,
and her gates languish;
they lie in gloom on the ground,
and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.(X)
3 Her[g] nobles send their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
they return with their vessels empty.
They are ashamed and dismayed
and cover their heads,(Y)
4 because the ground is cracked.
Because there has been no rain on the land,
the farmers are dismayed;
they cover their heads.(Z)
5 Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 The wild asses stand on the bare heights;[h]
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no herbage.(AA)
7 Although our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;
our rebellions indeed are many,
and we have sinned against you.(AB)
8 O hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler turning aside for the night?(AC)
9 Why should you be like someone confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
do not forsake us!(AD)
10 Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
Truly they have loved to wander;
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the Lord does not accept them;
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.(AE)
11 The Lord said to me: Do not pray for the welfare of this people.(AF) 12 Although they fast, I do not hear their cry, and although they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I do not accept them, but by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I consume them.(AG)
Denunciation of Lying Prophets
13 Then I said: “Ah, Lord God! Here are the prophets saying to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.’ ”(AH) 14 And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.(AI) 15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come on this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.(AJ) 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword. There shall be no one to bury them—themselves, their wives, their sons, and their daughters—for I will pour out their wickedness upon them.”(AK)
17 You shall say to them this word:
Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is struck down with a crushing blow,
with a very grievous wound.(AL)
18 If I go out into the field,
look—those killed by the sword!
And if I enter the city,
look—those sick with[i] famine!
For both prophet and priest ply their trade throughout the land
and have no knowledge.(AM)
The People Plead for Mercy
19 Have you completely rejected Judah?
Does your heart loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
so that there is no healing for us?
We look for peace but find no good,
for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.(AN)
20 We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
the iniquity of our ancestors,
for we have sinned against you.(AO)
21 Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
remember and do not break your covenant with us.(AP)
22 Can any idols of the nations bring rain,
or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not you, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
for it is you who do all this.(AQ)
Punishment Is Inevitable
15 Then the Lord said to me: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!(AR) 2 And when they say to you, “Where shall we go?” you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord:
Those destined for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those destined for the sword, to the sword;
those destined for famine, to famine,
and those destined for captivity, to captivity.(AS)
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, says the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth to devour and destroy.(AT) 4 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what King Manasseh son of Hezekiah of Judah did in Jerusalem.(AU)
5 Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
or who will bemoan you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 You have rejected me, says the Lord;
you are going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
I am weary of relenting.(AV)
7 I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
they did not turn from their ways.(AW)
8 Their widows became more numerous
than the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of youths
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon her suddenly.
9 She who bore seven has languished;
she has swooned away;
her sun went down while it was yet day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
before their enemies,
says the Lord.(AX)
Jeremiah Complains Again and Is Reassured
10 Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.(AY) 11 The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life[j] for good; surely I have brought enemies upon you[k] in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.(AZ) 12 Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory.(BA) 14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn against you.(BB)
15 O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance do not take me away;
know that on your account I suffer insult.(BC)
16 Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.(BD)
17 I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
for you had filled me with indignation.(BE)
18 Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail.(BF)
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.(BG)
20 And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
says the Lord.(BH)
21 I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.(BI)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.