Jeremiah 13
Tree of Life Version
Linen Waistband and Wine Jugs
13 Thus Adonai said to me: “Go, and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, and do not put it in water.”
2 So I got a waistband in keeping with the word of Adonai, and put it on my waist. 3 Then the word of Adonai came to me a second time, saying: 4 “Take the waistband that you bought, which is on your waist, and get up, go to Perath[a] and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.”
5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as Adonai commanded me. 6 Now it came to pass after many days that Adonai said to me: “Get up, go to Perath, and take the waistband that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 So I went to Perath, dug it up and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. But to my surprise, the waistband was marred, worth nothing at all.
8 Then the word of Adonai came to me, saying, 9 thus says Adonai: “Just so I will mar the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This wicked people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their own heart, and go after other gods to serve them and worship them, will be just like this waistband—worth nothing at all. 11 For just as the waistband clings to a man’s waist, so I will make the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me,” declares Adonai, “to be to Me a people, a name, a praise and a glory. But they would not obey.”
12 Moreover, speak this word to them, thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: “Every jug should be filled with wine.” When they say to you, ‘Don’t we know very well that every jug should be filled with wine?’ 13 Then you will say to them, thus says Adonai, ‘I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the kohanim, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness. 14 And I will smash them against each other, even fathers and sons,’ says Adonai. ‘I will show no pity, nor regret, nor compassion, to keep Me from destroying them.’”
Darkness and Downfall
15 Hear and give ear!
o not be haughty!
For Adonai has spoken.
16 Give glory to Adonai your God,
before it grows dark,
and before your feet stumble
on mountains at dusk.
When you look for light,
He turns it into the shadow of death,
and turns it into deep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
my soul will sob in secret
before such pride,
and my eyes will weep bitterly
and overflow with tears,
for Adonai’s flock will be taken captive.
18 Say to the king and the queen mother:
“Sit down low,
for your glorious crown
has fallen from your head.”
19 The towns of the South will be shut up,
with no one to open them.
All Judah is taken into exile—
utterly swept into exile.
20 Lift up your eyes and see
those coming from the north.
Where is the flock given to you,
Your beautiful sheep?
21 What will you say, when He sets up the allies
you cultivated for yourself, over you as head?
Will not labor pains seize you,
like a woman in travail?
22 Suppose you say in your heart,
“Why did these things happen to me?”
Because of your great iniquity,
your skirts are uncovered
and your heels suffer violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin?
Or the leopard his spots?
So, could you do good,
that are accustomed to doing evil?
24 “Therefore I will scatter them
like drifting straw in the desert wind.
25 This is your lot, the portion
measured for you from Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“For you have forgotten Me
and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore I will also uncover your skirts over your face,
expose your shame.
27 Your adulteries, your lustful neighings,
the lewdness of your prostitution—
on the hills in the field
I have seen your loathsome acts.
Oy you, Jerusalem! You are unclean!
How much longer?”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 13:4 Possibly Euphrates, so through v. 7.
Jeremiah 13
King James Version
13 Thus saith the Lord unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying,
4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
9 Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock is carried away captive.
18 Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
22 And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.