Jeremiah 13:1-11

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.’