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)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 13:4 Or possibly to the Euphrates; similarly in verses 5-7
Jeremiah 13:23 Hebrew Cushite (probably a person from the upper Nile region)

Jeremiah 14

New International Version

Drought, Famine, Sword

14 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:^(A)

²“Judah mourns,^(B)
    her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
    and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
³The nobles send their servants for water;
    they go to the cisterns
    but find no water.^(C)
They return with their jars unfilled;
    dismayed and despairing,
    they cover their heads.^(D)
⁴The ground is cracked
    because there is no rain in the land;^(E)
the farmers are dismayed
    and cover their heads.
⁵Even the doe in the field
    deserts her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.^(F)
⁶Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights^(G)
    and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
    for lack of food.”^(H)

⁷Although our sins testify^(I) against us,
    do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.^(J)
For we have often rebelled;^(K)
    we have sinned^(L) against you.
⁸You who are the hope^(M) of Israel,
    its Savior^(N) in times of distress,^(O)
why are you like a stranger in the land,
    like a traveler who stays only a night?
⁹Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
    like a warrior powerless to save?^(P)
You are among^(Q) us, Lord,
    and we bear your name;^(R)
    do not forsake^(S) us!

¹⁰This is what the Lord says about this people:

“They greatly love to wander;
    they do not restrain their feet.^(T)
So the Lord does not accept^(U) them;
    he will now remember^(V) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.”^(W)

¹¹Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray^(X) for the well-being of this people. ¹²Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry;^(Y) though they offer burnt offerings^(Z) and grain offerings,^(AA) I will not accept^(AB) them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword,^(AC) famine^(AD) and plague.”^(AE)

¹³But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets^(AF) keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine.^(AG) Indeed, I will give you lasting peace^(AH) in this place.’”

¹⁴Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies^(AI) in my name. I have not sent^(AJ) them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions,^(AK) divinations,^(AL) idolatries^[a] and the delusions of their own minds. ¹⁵Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish^(AM) by sword and famine.^(AN) ¹⁶And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury^(AO) them, their wives, their sons and their daughters.^(AP) I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.^(AQ)

¹⁷“Speak this word to them:

“‘Let my eyes overflow with tears^(AR)
    night and day without ceasing;
for the Virgin^(AS) Daughter, my people,
    has suffered a grievous wound,
    a crushing blow.^(AT)
¹⁸If I go into the country,
    I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
    I see the ravages of famine.^(AU)
Both prophet and priest
    have gone to a land they know not.^(AV)’”

¹⁹Have you rejected Judah completely?^(AW)
    Do you despise Zion?
Why have you afflicted us
    so that we cannot be healed?^(AX)
We hoped for peace
    but no good has come,
for a time of healing
    but there is only terror.^(AY)
²⁰We acknowledge^(AZ) our wickedness, Lord,
    and the guilt of our ancestors;^(BA)
    we have indeed sinned^(BB) against you.
²¹For the sake of your name^(BC) do not despise us;
    do not dishonor your glorious throne.^(BD)
Remember your covenant^(BE) with us
    and do not break it.
²²Do any of the worthless idols^(BF) of the nations bring rain?^(BG)
    Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
    Therefore our hope is in you,
    for you are the one who does all this.^(BH)