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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) So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord and put it on my loins.(B) And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “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) So I went and hid it by the Euphrates,[b] as the Lord commanded me.(D) 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.” 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.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: 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)

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Footnotes

  1. 13.4 Or to Parah
  2. 13.5 Or by Parah
  3. 13.6 Or to Parah
  4. 13.7 Or to Parah

Linen Underwear

13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment(A) and put it on,[a] but do not put it in water.” So I bought underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on.

Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: “Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing,[b] and go at once to the Euphrates[c] and hide it in a rocky crevice.”(B) So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

A long time later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.” So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined—of no use at all.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “This is what the Lord says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem.(C) 10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to Me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts,(D) and who have followed other gods to serve and worship—they will be like this underwear, of no use at all. 11 Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to Me”(E)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“so that they might be My people for My fame, praise, and glory,(F) but they would not obey.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 13:1 Lit around your waist
  2. Jeremiah 13:4 Lit wearing around your waist
  3. Jeremiah 13:4 Perhaps a place near Anathoth with the same spelling as river