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Jeremiah 13
New International Version
Jeremiah 13
New International Version
A Linen Belt
13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” 2 So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.
3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time:(A) 4 “Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath[a](B) and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” 5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.(C)
6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” 7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride(D) of Jerusalem. 10 These wicked people, who refuse to listen(E) to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts(F) and go after other gods(G) to serve and worship them,(H) will be like this belt—completely useless!(I) 11 For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown(J) and praise and honor.(K) But they have not listened.’(L)
Wineskins
12 “Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ 13 then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkenness(M) all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. 14 I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity(N) or mercy or compassion(O) to keep me from destroying(P) them.’”
Threat of Captivity
15 Hear and pay attention,
do not be arrogant,
for the Lord has spoken.(Q)
16 Give glory(R) to the Lord your God
before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble(S)
on the darkening hills.
You hope for light,
but he will turn it to utter darkness
and change it to deep gloom.(T)
17 If you do not listen,(U)
I will weep in secret
because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly,
overflowing with tears,(V)
because the Lord’s flock(W) will be taken captive.(X)
18 Say to the king(Y) and to the queen mother,(Z)
“Come down from your thrones,
for your glorious crowns(AA)
will fall from your heads.”
19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up,
and there will be no one to open them.
All Judah(AB) will be carried into exile,
carried completely away.
20 Look up and see
those who are coming from the north.(AC)
Where is the flock(AD) that was entrusted to you,
the sheep of which you boasted?
21 What will you say when the Lord sets over you
those you cultivated as your special allies?(AE)
Will not pain grip you
like that of a woman in labor?(AF)
22 And if you ask yourself,
“Why has this happened to me?”(AG)—
it is because of your many sins(AH)
that your skirts have been torn off(AI)
and your body mistreated.(AJ)
23 Can an Ethiopian[b] change his skin
or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.(AK)
24 “I will scatter you like chaff(AL)
driven by the desert wind.(AM)
25 This is your lot,
the portion(AN) I have decreed for you,”
declares the Lord,
“because you have forgotten(AO) me
and trusted in false gods.(AP)
26 I will pull up your skirts over your face
that your shame may be seen(AQ)—
27 your adulteries and lustful neighings,
your shameless prostitution!(AR)
I have seen your detestable acts
on the hills and in the fields.(AS)
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
How long will you be unclean?”(AT)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 13:4 Or possibly to the Euphrates; similarly in verses 5-7
- Jeremiah 13:23 Hebrew Cushite (probably a person from the upper Nile region)
Jeremiah 13
EasyEnglish Bible
Jeremiah 13
EasyEnglish Bible
A linen belt
13 The Lord said to me, ‘Go and buy a linen belt.[a] Tie it around your body. But do not put it into water.’ 2 So I bought a belt, as the Lord had told me to do. I tied it around me.
3 The Lord spoke to me again. 4 He said, ‘Take the belt that you bought and you are now wearing. Take it now to Perath. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.’ 5 So I went to Perath. I hid it there, as the Lord had commanded me to do.[b]
6 Many days after that, the Lord said to me, ‘Now go to Perath again. Get the belt that I told you to hide there.’ 7 So I went back to Perath. I dug out the belt from the place where I had hidden it. But it had become spoiled. I could not use it any more.
8 Then the Lord said to me, 9 ‘I, the Lord, tell you this: See what happened to your belt. Now I will destroy everything that the people of Judah and Jerusalem are proud of. 10 Those wicked people refuse to listen to my words. They do whatever they want to do. They are too proud to change. They serve other gods and they worship them. Now they will become as useless as this linen belt. 11 I tell you this: My people should have been like a belt for me. I held all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah very near to me. I chose them to be my special people. They should have respected me and given me honour so that people would praise me. But they refused to obey me.
12 You must tell them, “The Lord, Israel's God, says this: People make wine bottles so that they can fill them with wine.” They may answer, “We know that is why people make wine bottles. Everyone knows that!” 13 Then tell them, “Now I will fill all the people who live in this land. I will fill the kings from David's family, the prophets, the priests and the people who live in Jerusalem. Yes, I will fill them all with so much wine that they become drunk! 14 I will knock them against each other, so that they break like bottles. I will punish everyone, parents and their children. I will not be sorry for them and I will not be kind to them. I will destroy them, and nothing can stop me.” That is what the Lord says.’
Jeremiah warns the people of Judah
15 ‘Listen carefully to me.
Do not be too proud to listen!
The Lord has spoken to you.
16 Give honour to the Lord your God,
before it is too late.
Do it before he makes everywhere become dark.
Then you will fall down,
like someone who walks on the mountains at night.
You may hope for light to come,
but God will make it completely dark.[c]
17 If you refuse to listen to God's message,
I will hide myself and I will weep.
Because you are so proud,
tears will pour from my eyes.
I will cry because the Lord has sent his own people away
as prisoners to a foreign land.
18 Tell the king and his mother,
“Come down from your thrones.
Your beautiful crowns will soon fall from your heads.”[d]
19 The cities in the south of Judah will keep their gates shut.
Nobody will go in or out of the cities.
Enemies will take the people of Judah away as prisoners.
They will take them all into exile.
20 Leaders of Jerusalem, look up!
See the enemy that is coming from the north.
What has happened to your people?
You were proud of them
and you should have taken care of them.
You are like shepherds who have lost their sheep.
21 The Lord will choose other people to rule over you.
They are people that you wanted to be your friends,
but now they will have power over you.
So what will you say about that?
You will be afraid and in much pain,
like a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
22 You may ask,
“Why are these things happening to me?”
It is because of your many terrible sins.
Like an adulteress, they have torn off your dress
to make you ashamed.
23 You have done evil things for a long time.
So you cannot now start to do good things.
Can anyone change the colour of his skin?
Can a leopard remove the marks on its body?
No! And you cannot change yourselves either.’
24 The Lord says,
‘I will blow you away,
as a hot desert wind blows away straw.
25 That is how I have decided to punish you.
It is what you deserve
because you have forgotten me.
You have trusted in false gods.
26 So I will cause you to be very ashamed,
like a woman whose dress they have removed.
27 People of Jerusalem,
you are in terrible trouble!
I have seen the disgusting things that you do.
You are like a woman who has not been faithful to her husband.
Like a prostitute, you look for other gods to serve.
You cannot control yourselves,
as you do disgusting things on the hills and in the fields.
Will you never be clean and pure again?’[e]
Footnotes
- 13:1 The belt was a piece of cloth that would cover the lower part of a man's body and the top of his legs.
- 13:5 ‘Perath’ may have been a place near Jeremiah's home town of Anathoth. Or it may have been another name for the Euphrates River, which was more than 1,000 kilometres away.
- 13:16 They will hope for God to come and rescue them, but he will send them away into exile.
- 13:18 This means that they will not continue to rule the people.
- 13:27 Jeremiah is telling the people in Jerusalem that God will use their enemies to punish them. God sees all the wrong things that they are doing. He knows that they do not respect him.
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