Jeremiah 13-14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 13
Judah’s Corruption.[a] 1 The Lord said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth; wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water. 2 I bought the loincloth, as the Lord commanded, and put it on. 3 A second time the word of the Lord came to me thus: 4 Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing, and go at once to the Perath; hide it there in a cleft of the rock. 5 Obedient to the Lord’s command, I went to the Perath and buried the loincloth. 6 After a long time, the Lord said to me: Go now to the Perath and fetch the loincloth which I told you to hide there. 7 So I went to the Perath, looked for the loincloth and took it from the place I had hidden it. But it was rotted, good for nothing! 8 Then the word came to me from the Lord: 9 Thus says the Lord: So also I will allow the pride of Judah to rot, the great pride of Jerusalem.(A) 10 This wicked people who refuse to obey my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and follow other gods, serving and worshiping them, will be like this loincloth, good for nothing.(B) 11 For, as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me—oracle of the Lord—to be my people, my fame, my praise, my glory. But they did not listen.(C)
The Broken Wineflask. 12 Now speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Every wineflask should be filled with wine. If they reply, “Do we not know that every wineflask should be filled with wine?” 13 say to them: Thus says the Lord: Beware! I am making all the inhabitants of this land drunk, the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests and prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.(D) 14 I will smash them against each other, parents and children together—oracle of the Lord—showing no compassion, I will neither spare nor pity, but I will destroy them.(E)
A Last Warning
15 Listen and give ear, do not be arrogant,
for the Lord speaks.
16 Give glory to the Lord, your God,
before he brings darkness;
Before your feet stumble
on mountains at twilight;
Before the light you look for turns to darkness,
changes into black clouds.(F)
17 If you do not listen to this in your pride,
I will weep many tears in secret;
My eyes will run with tears
for the Lord’s flock, led away to exile.(G)
Exile
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother:
come down from your throne;
From your heads
your splendid crowns will fall.(H)
19 The cities of the Negeb are besieged,
with no one to relieve them;
Judah is taken into exile—all of it—
in total exile.
Jerusalem’s Disgrace
20 Lift up your eyes and see
those coming in from the north.
Where is the flock entrusted to you,
your splendid sheep?(I)
21 What will you say when rulers are appointed over you,
those you taught to be allies?
Will not pains seize you
like those of a woman giving birth?(J)
22 If you say to yourself:
“Why have these things happened to me?”
For your great guilt your skirts are stripped away
and you are violated.(K)
23 Can Ethiopians change their skin,
leopards their spots?
As easily would you be able to do good,
accustomed to evil as you are.(L)
24 I will scatter them like chaff that flies
on the desert wind.(M)
25 This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you—
oracle of the Lord.
Because you have forgotten me,
and trusted in deception,[b](N)
26 I now will strip away your skirts,
so that your shame is visible.(O)
27 Your adulteries, your neighings,
your shameless prostitutions:
On the hills, in the fields
I see your detestable crimes.
Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will it be
before you are clean?(P)
Chapter 14
The Great Drought. 1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:(Q)
2 Judah mourns,
her gates are lifeless;
They are bowed to the ground,
and the outcry of Jerusalem goes up.(R)
3 The nobles send their servants for water,
but when they come to the cisterns
They find no water
and return with empty jars.(S)
Confounded, despairing, they cover their heads
4 because of the ruined soil;
Because there is no rain in the land
the farmers are confounded, they cover their heads.(T)
5 Even the doe in the field deserts her young
because there is no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights,
gasping for breath like jackals;
Their eyes grow dim;
there is no grass.
7 Even though our crimes bear witness against us,
act, Lord, for your name’s sake—
Even though our rebellions are many,
and we have sinned against you.(U)
8 Hope of Israel, Lord,
our savior in time of need!
Why should you be a stranger in the land,
like a traveler stopping only for a night?
9 Why are you like someone bewildered,
a champion who cannot save?
You are in our midst, Lord,
your name we bear:
do not forsake us!(V)
10 Thus says the Lord about this people:
They so love to wander
that they cannot restrain their feet.
The Lord takes no pleasure in them;
now he remembers their guilt,
and will punish their sins.(W)
11 Then the Lord said to me: Do not intercede for the well-being of this people.(X) 12 If they fast, I will not listen to their supplication. If they sacrifice burnt offerings or grain offerings, I will take no pleasure in them. Rather, I will destroy them with the sword, famine, and plague.(Y)
13 “Ah! Lord God,” I replied, “it is the prophets who say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword; famine shall not befall you. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”(Z)
14 These prophets utter lies in my name, the Lord said to me: I did not send them; I gave them no command, nor did I speak to them. They prophesy to you lying visions, foolish divination, deceptions from their own imagination.(AA) 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 befall this land”: by sword and famine shall these prophets meet their end.(AB) 16 The people to whom they prophesy shall be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and the sword. No one shall bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters, for I will pour out upon them their own wickedness.(AC) 17 Speak to them this word:
Let my eyes stream with tears
night and day, without rest,
Over the great destruction which overwhelms
the virgin daughter of my people,
over her incurable wound.(AD)
18 If I walk out into the field,
look! those slain by the sword;
If I enter the city,
look! victims of famine.
Both prophet and priest ply their trade
in a land they do not know.
19 Have you really cast Judah off?
Is Zion loathsome to you?
Why have you struck us a blow
that cannot be healed?
We wait for peace, to no avail;
for a time of healing, but terror comes instead.(AE)
20 We recognize our wickedness, Lord,
the guilt of our ancestors:
we have sinned against you.(AF)
21 Do not reject us, for your name’s sake,
do not disgrace your glorious throne.
Remember! Do not break your covenant with us.(AG)
22 Among the idols of the nations are there any that give rain?
Or can the mere heavens send showers?
Is it not you, Lord,
our God, to whom we look?
You alone do all these things.(AH)
Footnotes
- 13:1–11 In this symbolic action, Jeremiah probably went to the village and spring of Parah, two and a half miles northeast of Anathoth, whose name closely resembled the Hebrew name of the river Euphrates (Perath), in order to dramatize the religious corruption of Judah at the hands of the Babylonians.
- 13:25 Heb. sheqer: lit., “deception,” often used to designate an idol.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.