Beginning
Circumcision is supposed to be a sign of God’s covenant with the people of Israel, but it has become a mark on the body that has little to no effect on how God’s people live. Now God speaks a rather shocking message. Judgment is coming on all nations—those inside and those outside the covenant—whose people are not distinguished by a mark that truly matters. God calls this judgment the circumcision of the heart—a strange phrase indeed. The difference is between the inside and the outside, the superficial and the real. God has had enough, the prophet says, of those who go through the motions, confident in their wisdom, strength, and wealth. God wants a people who are truly devoted to knowing and honoring Him.
10 This message is for all of Israel. Listen to what the Eternal is saying to you.
2 Eternal One: Don’t learn the strange practices and beliefs of other nations.
Don’t be terrified by signs in the sky
just because the other nations are.
3 For their traditions and customs are useless; there is nothing to them.
A tree is cut down in the forest;
then an artisan takes out a tool and carves it into an image.
4 They dress it up with gold and silver to make it more impressive.
Then they nail it down so it won’t fall over!
5 This is what they worship? The idol just stands there—
lifeless, powerless like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch.
It cannot speak. It cannot move. They must pick the thing up and bring it along.
Do you see why there’s nothing to fear from these dead pieces of wood?
They cannot harm you, and they cannot help you either.
6 O Eternal One, there is no comparison.
You are great; even Your name is powerful.
7 Who wouldn’t worship You? It is only right;
You are the King of all kingdoms.
The wise and powerful men of all nations in their realms
are still nothing compared to You.
8 They are stupid fools for taking their cues from blocks of wood,
as if that idol could lead them anywhere.
9 Beaten silver from Tarshish, and hammered gold from Uphaz—
materials made by artisans and goldsmiths—
Draped with royal blue and purple,
even with the work of craftsmen—still a lifeless object!
10 Just look at the contrast! The Eternal is the True God:
He is the living God and eternal King, not some lifeless idol.
The whole earth trembles when He is angry; nations crumble beneath His wrath.
11 Say this to anyone still worshiping idols: The so-called gods you worship did not make the earth and starry sky above it. And one day, they will all be blotted from the earth beneath those stars.
12 Know whom you’re dealing with!
God alone is powerful enough to create the earth.
He alone is wise enough to put the world together.
He alone understands enough to stretch out the heavens.
13 His voice thunders through the heavens, and the waters gush from the sky;
He summons the clouds to build up over the earth.
As the rain falls, the lightning flashes at His command;
the wind rushes in from where He alone can store it.
14 All of humanity is stupid and bankrupt of knowledge.
Those who make idols are shamed by their creations.
What they fashion out of gold are imposters—
breathless, lifeless frauds.
15 Their idols are worthless, the work of their hands an embarrassing mockery.
They are doomed to perish under God’s judgment.
16 The portion of Jacob, the Eternal One, is not like any of these.
He was not fashioned out of human hands.
Instead, it is He who made all things and appointed Israel to inherit it all.
His name is the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
These words are directed at a nation that cannot remember the beauty and power of true worship; instead, her people are always drifting toward profane and useless practices that leave them empty and far from the God who loves them so. The warnings against idolatry, no matter how many times or how loudly they are offered, always seem to fall on deaf ears. But now the judgment is close at hand. The enemy first seen in Jeremiah’s visions is drawing closer. The dreaded hour of judgment is coming.
17 Pack up what you have; take what you can from the land.
You’ll soon be under siege!
18 The word I have from the Eternal is clear:
Eternal One: Look, I will pitch out these people who live in the land of promise.
Now is the time for Me to bring hardship on them, so they may be found.
19 When I think of what is about to happen,
I can’t begin to express my hurt; the wound is so deep, so painful.
But I keep telling myself,
“This sickness is mine to bear.”
20 Like a tent, my nation has collapsed, all the ropes cut apart.
My sons are gone,
And there is no one left to help me put things back together.
So I am exposed, with no tent and no shelter.
21 The shepherds of my people have lost their senses;
they never thought to ask what the Eternal would have them do.
So now they are in trouble,
and all their flocks are scattered.
22 Listen! The news we’ve dreaded is finally here:
Rumblings are being heard in the north; an army is moving into our land.
The villages of Judah will be laid to waste;
their rubble will be the haunt of jackals.
23 Jeremiah: O Eternal One, I know our lives are in Your hands.
It is not in us to direct our own steps—we need You.
24 Discipline me, Eternal One, but do so fairly.
Hold back Your wrath, or I’ll be destroyed completely.
25 O God, pour out Your wrath on those nations that do not acknowledge You,
on those peoples who never call on Your name.
For they have ravaged the land of Jacob and devoured it completely.
They have made sure nothing is left of our land.
11 The word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah.
Eternal One: 2 Tell the people of Judah, and specifically those who live in Jerusalem, to hear the terms of our covenant. 3 Tell them this is what the Eternal, the God of Israel, has to say: “Cursed is anyone who ignores the terms of this covenant. 4 All of this was laid out for your ancestors long ago when I first delivered them from slavery, rescued them from the fire of Egypt. I told them, ‘Hear My voice, and do all that I command you. This way you will be My people, and I will be your God.’ 5 I wanted nothing more than to keep My promise and to bless your ancestors with a land flowing with milk and honey—the land of promise on which you stand today.”
Jeremiah: Yes, O Eternal One! Let it be.
Eternal One (to Jeremiah): 6 Now it is time to announce My message in the villages of Judah and on the streets of My city, Jerusalem. I want them to hear this: “Listen to the words of this covenant, and start doing what it says. 7 I sternly warned your ancestors when I rescued them from Egypt, and I’ve repeated that warning many times, even today, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do as I say.’ 8 But they didn’t listen, and they didn’t obey Me. Instead, they deliberately chased their own dark desires, ignoring Me at every turn. So I enforced the terms of our covenant, including the curses that came from refusing to do that which I had commanded them.”
9 The people of Jerusalem and all of Judah conspire against Me. 10 They have gone back to the sins of their ancestors, who long ago ignored My words. They have chased after other gods and worshiped them. Do you not see how both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors? 11 This is why I, the Eternal, declare that I will bring disaster upon these rebellious people. And they will not escape what awaits them. They will beg for My help, but I won’t listen to them. 12 Let the citizens of Judah and Jerusalem run to their precious gods for help. Let them burn incense and pray to their detestable images when trouble comes. Those impotent idols will not be able to save them, no matter how many they have to choose from! 13 For you have as many gods as there are towns, people of Judah—as many altars to burn incense to Baal as there are streets in Jerusalem. 14 Don’t pray for these people, Jeremiah. Don’t bother making any pleas for them, for that time has passed. I will not listen when they call out to Me in their time of trouble.
15 What right does My beloved have coming into My temple, having done such vile things with so many? Do you really think that animal sacrifice is going to make this all go away? Will you then be able to rejoice? 16 The Eternal once proclaimed you a lush olive tree, full of beautiful fruit. But all that has changed. With the roar of a violent storm, He will now strike that tree—leaving it battered, broken, and burned. 17 Now the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has decreed disaster against you, the same tree He planted—all because of the evil done by the people of Israel and Judah, all because they provoked Me by worshiping and sacrificing to Baal.
At this point in the prophecy, Jeremiah reveals a bit of his private struggles. Because he has faithfully delivered God’s messages to the nation, people from his hometown are scheming against him. They would like nothing better than to silence God’s mouthpiece . . . permanently. God, however, lets Jeremiah in on the plot. Wisely, Jeremiah puts his trust in God to protect and defend him.
18 Jeremiah: The Eternal revealed to me the plans of my enemies.
Then You showed me what they wanted to do.
19 I was like an unsuspecting lamb led to its slaughter.
I had no idea they were plotting against me. They were saying,
“Let’s cut down that lush olive tree and destroy all its beautiful fruit.[a]
Let’s cut him off from the land of the living.
Let’s make sure no one even remembers his name.”
20 But You, Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, You who judge fairly,
You know the heart and the mind.
Let me see Your vengeance exacted against them;
I am entrusting my cause, my future to You.
21-22 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say regarding your men back in Anathoth who are threatening your life and saying, “You will die by our hands if you do not stop prophesying in the name of the Eternal.”
Eternal One: Look, I will soon punish them! The young men will die in battle; their sons and daughters will starve during a famine. 23 In the end, no one from Anathoth who schemes against you will remain, for I will bring disaster upon these schemers when the year of their reckoning arrives.
12 Jeremiah: Eternal, You always do what is right
when I bring a complaint Your way.
So now let me put a case before You:
Why do the wicked prosper so much?
Why do all the untrustworthy have it so easy?
2 You plant them and watch them take root;
You allow them to grow and even bear fruit.
And yet, Your words mean nothing to them, deep down.
3 Still, You know me, Eternal One; You see what is deep inside me.
You’ve examined my heart,
So why aren’t they brought to justice? Deal with them as sheep
set aside for slaughter, singled out for death.
4 How long must the land cry out in mourning,
the grasses of the field wither and bake in the sun?
The birds and wild animals have simply vanished,
all because of the wicked living here—
Because they say, “God does not see what will become of us.”
Jeremiah’s complaint is a common one; it is as old as civilization itself: Why do the wicked prosper? Why do good people have to wait for God’s justice? God doesn’t shrink back from such questions, and He does not punish those who dare ask them. In fact, Scripture invites us to ask God the hard questions through Jeremiah’s example. The answers to hard questions are never easy. In fact, as Jeremiah will soon discover, his troubles are only beginning. God calls him again to endure.
5 Eternal One: If you are worn out after only running with a few men,
how will you one day compete against horses?
If you stumble on the easy terrain,
how will you manage in the thick brush near the Jordan?
6 Jeremiah, even your brothers and the rest of your family
are ready to betray you.
Even they cry out for your death; don’t trust any of them,
no matter how nicely they speak to your face.
7 I have turned away My house,
abandoned My heritage;
I have given My deeply beloved one over to her enemies.
8 My very own people have acted toward Me like a lion in the wild,
roaring at Me in defiance. For this, I hate her.
9 Have My own people become like colorful vultures?
Are birds of prey circling all around them?[b]
Gather the wild beasts and bring them on to devour My beloved.
10 Many shepherds have already destroyed My vineyard;
they have crushed My fields.
My beautiful land of promise has turned into a barren wasteland.
11 The very ground cries out to Me in this empty and forsaken land;
the whole land is desolate, but no one seems to care.
12 The destroyers pour over the bare hills in the desert
as the sword of the Eternal devours the land from one end to another.
There is no peace for anyone.
13 The people planted wheat, but they will reap only thorns.
In the end, there will be nothing to show for all their hard work.
Shame will be their harvest because of the Eternal’s burning anger against them.
Jeremiah now speaks to the nations. They, too, must trust God. His love and mercy are not for Israel alone.
The Eternal has this to say:
Eternal One: 14 As for My wicked neighbors so eager to take away the inheritance I gave My people Israel, look! There will come a day when I will uproot them from their lands, and I will take Judah from their midst. 15 But after I have uprooted them from their homelands, I will have mercy on them and restore them to their own lands and their own possessions. 16 And if they diligently learn the ways of My people and trust in Me instead of idols, if they swear by My name saying, “As the Eternal lives,” just as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then I will establish them alongside My people. 17 As for any nation that will not listen to and follow My ways, I will uproot it and destroy it completely.
This is what the Eternal has declared.
13 The Eternal directed me.
Eternal One: Go and buy a linen undergarment; put it around your waist next to your body beneath your clothes, but do not wash it.
2 So I bought the undergarment, just as the Eternal had told me, and put it around my waist. 3 Then the Eternal spoke to me a second time.
Eternal One: 4 Now take off this undergarment you’ve purchased and have been wearing around your waist, and go to the Euphrates. I want you to hide it in a crevice in the rocks there.
5 So I took the undergarment to the Euphrates and hid it in the rocks, just as the Eternal told me. 6 After many days had passed, the Eternal spoke to me a third time.
Eternal One: Now go back to the Euphrates, and get the linen undergarment I told you to hide there.
7 When I went back and dug up this garment from the place where I’d hidden it, I found it had begun to rot. This garment that was once new and clean was now completely worthless. 8 The word of the Eternal came to me to drive home His point.
At times God’s message given through Jeremiah must be acted out. He wants so badly for His people to understand, that mere words aren’t sufficient. This is one such moment.
Eternal One: 9 Mark My words, for the same thing will happen to the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 I will ruin these haughty and wicked people who ignore My words, who follow their own stubborn hearts, who run after other gods, who bow down to lifeless idols. They will end up like this rotten undergarment in your hands—completely worthless! 11 Just as the undergarment clings to a person’s waist, so did I, the Eternal One, make Israel and Judah to cling tightly to Me. They were to be My people, known by all, bringing honor and glory to My name. That was My plan for them, but they did not listen.
This is the first of several symbolic actions or prophetic dramas in the book. God made Israel and Judah to stick close to him—as close as an undergarment—but because they disobey Him and refuse to live within the bonds of the covenant, God will bury them in exile, and they will be ruined.
Eternal One: 12 Speak this word to the people as well: “Listen to what the Eternal, the God of Israel, has to say: ‘Every jug will be filled with wine.’ When they respond, ‘Tell us something we don’t already know, prophet! Don’t you think we know that every jug will be filled with wine?’ 13 Go on telling them, ‘This is what the Eternal says: “I am going to fill all who live in this land with drunkenness—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the false prophets, and all the citizens of Jerusalem. 14 And then I will smash them together in confusion and panic—smashing fathers against sons in the chaos of the enemy invasion. I will have no pity on them. My sorrow or compassion will not keep Me from ruining them.”’”
15 Listen carefully to me!
Stop being so smug, because the Eternal has spoken.
16 It is time to honor the Eternal your God before He makes the darkness fall
and you stumble on the darkening mountains.
You will long for the light,
but He will make the darkness deepen as the gloom settles in.
17 If you still won’t listen, I will weep for you in secret.
From the depths of my soul, I will cry bitter tears,
Because the Eternal’s own flock will be taken captive.
18 Tell the king and the queen mother:
“Come down from your thrones, and take a seat in a humble place,
for your glorious crowns will be taken from you.”
19 The cities in the Negev have already shut their gates.
There will be no one to open them.
The people of Judah will be taken captive,
all of them carried away into exile.
20 (to Jerusalem) Now look to the north and see who is marching toward you.
Where is the beautiful flock that was entrusted to you?
21 What will you say when He appoints your so-called allies,
the very ones you trained, to rule over you?
Will not the pain stab at you
as it does a woman in childbirth?
22 When you begin to ask yourself, “Why is all this happening to me?”
know this: it is because of the weight of your sins.
This is why your enemies will tear off your skirts and violate your bodies.
23 And still, you will not change.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin?
Can a leopard change its spots?
It seems just as unlikely that you will change your ways and do good,
when you are so used to doing evil—it has become such a part of you.
24 Eternal One (to His people): This is why I will scatter you
like chaff driven by the desert wind.
25 This is now your fate—retribution measured out for you from the Eternal—
for you have forgotten Me and trusted in the lies of another.
26 For all this, I will be the One who lifts your skirts over your face,
exposing you and letting others see your disgrace.
27 As for your faithlessness, your adulteries and your lustful ways,
as for the degrading way you prostitute yourself to other gods out in the open, I see it all.
For all this, your fate is sealed. O Jerusalem—how bad it will be for you!
How long before you are clean again?
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.