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.” ²So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.

³Then 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.” ⁵So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.^(C)

⁶Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” ⁷So 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.

⁸Then 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. ¹⁰These 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) ¹¹For 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?’ ¹³then 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. ¹⁴I 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

¹⁵Hear and pay attention,
    do not be arrogant,
    for the Lord has spoken.^(Q)
¹⁶Give 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)
¹⁷If 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)

¹⁸Say 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.”
¹⁹The 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.

²⁰Look 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?
²¹What 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)
²²And 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)
²³Can 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)
²⁵This 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)
²⁶I will pull up your skirts over your face
    that your shame may be seen^(AQ)—
²⁷your 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)