Jeremiah 13

The Ruined Undergarment

1 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and ^abuy yourself a linen undergarment and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.” 2So I bought the undergarment in accordance with the ^bword of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, 4“Take the undergarment that you bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the ^cEuphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.” 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, ^das the Lord had commanded me. 6After many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the undergarment which I commanded you to hide there.” 7Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the undergarment from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the undergarment was ruined, it was completely useless.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9“This is what the Lord says: ‘To the same extent I will destroy the ^epride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10This wicked people, who ^frefuse to listen to My words, who ^gwalk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have followed other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this undergarment which is completely useless. 11For as the undergarment clings to the waist of a man, so I made the entire household of Israel and the entire household of Judah ^hcling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘so that they might be My people, for ▼

▼Lit a name

, ^jrenown, for ^kpraise, and for glory; but they ^ldid not listen.’

Captivity Threatened

12 “Therefore you are to speak this word to them. ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’ 13then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to fill all the inhabitants of this land--the kings who sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem--with ^mdrunkenness! 14Then I will ⁿsmash them against each other, both the ^ofathers and the sons together,” declares the Lord. “I will ^pnot have compassion nor be troubled nor take pity so as to keep from destroying them.”’”

15 Listen and pay attention, do not be ^qhaughty;
For the Lord has spoken.
16 ^rGive glory to the Lord your God
Before He brings ^sdarkness
And before your ^tfeet stumble
On the mountains in the dark,
And while you are hoping for light
He makes it into ^ugloom,
And turns it into thick darkness.
17 But ^vif you do not listen to it,
My soul will ^wweep in secret for such pride;
And my eyes will shed
And stream down tears,
Because the ^xflock of the Lord has been taken captive.
18 Say to the ^yking and the queen mother,
“ ^zTake a lowly seat,
For your beautiful ^aacrown
Has come down from your head.”
19 The ^abcities of the Negev have been locked up,
And there is no one to open them;
All ^acJudah has been taken into exile,
Wholly taken into exile.

20 “Raise your eyes and see
Those coming ^adfrom the north.
Where is the ^aeflock that was given you,
Your beautiful sheep?
21 “What will you say when He appoints over you--
And you yourself had taught them--
Former ^afcompanions to be head over you?
Will ^agsharp pains not take hold of you
Like a woman in childbirth?
22 “If you ^ahsay in your heart,
‘ ^aiWhy have these things happened to me?’
Because of the ^ajmagnitude of your wrongdoing
^akYour skirts have been removed
And your ▼

▼I.e., a euphemism for private parts

heels have suffered violence.
23 “ ^amCan the Ethiopian change his skin,
Or the leopard his spots?
Then you as well can ^ando good
Who are accustomed to doing evil.
24 “Therefore I will ^aoscatter them like drifting straw
To the desert ^apwind.
25 “This is your ^aqlot, the portion measured to you
From Me,” declares the Lord,
“Because you have ^arforgotten Me
And trusted in falsehood.
26 “So I Myself have ^asstripped your skirts off over your face,
So that your shame will be seen.
27 “As for your ^atadulteries and your lustful neighings,
The ^auoutrageous sin of your prostitution
On the ^avhills in the field,
I have seen your abominations.
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
^awHow long will you remain unclean?”