Jer 11, Jer 13 | ESV | STEP | The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord :

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 ^a“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^bCursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4 that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, ^cfrom the iron furnace, saying, ^dListen to my voice, and do all that I command you. ^eSo shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 ^fthat I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, ^gto give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

6 And the Lord said to me, ^h“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ⁱHear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, ^jwarning them persistently, even to this day, saying, ^kObey my voice. 8 ^lYet they did not obey or incline their ear, ^mbut everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all ⁿthe words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

9 Again the Lord said to me, ^o“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to ^pthe iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. ^qThey have gone after other gods to serve them. ^rThe house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. ^sThough they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^twill go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ^ubut they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 ^vFor your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, ^waltars to make offerings to Baal.

14 “Therefore ^xdo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ^yfor I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15 ^zWhat right has my beloved in my house, ^aawhen she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? ^abCan you then exult? 16 The Lord once called you ^ac‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But ^adwith the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and ^aeits branches will be consumed. 17 The Lord of hosts, ^afwho planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, ^agprovoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

18 The Lord made it known to me and I knew;
then you showed me their deeds.
19 But I was ^ahlike a gentle lamb
led to the slaughter.
I did not know ^aiit was against me
they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
^ajlet us cut him off from ^akthe land of the living,
that his name be remembered no more.”
20 But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
who ^altests ^amthe heart and the mind,
^anlet me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^aoAnathoth, ^apwho seek your life, and say, ^aq“Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”— 22 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, 23 and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of ^arAnathoth, ^asthe year of their punishment.”

Jeremiah 13

The Ruined Loincloth

1 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and ^atput it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, ^augo to the Euphrates and hide it there in ^ava cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there ^awthe loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^axthe loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ^ayspoiled; it was ^azgood for nothing.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: ^baEven so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great ^bbpride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^bcwho stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ^bdgood for nothing. 11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, ^bethat they might be for me a people, ^bfa name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

The Jars Filled with Wine

12 “You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that ^bgevery jar will be filled with wine?’ 13 Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^bhBehold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: ^bithe kings who sit on David’s throne, ^bjthe priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14 And I will ^bkdash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

Exile Threatened

15 Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 ^blGive glory to the Lord your God
^bmbefore he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and ^bnwhile you look for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it ^bodeep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
^bpmy soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to ^bqthe king and ^brthe queen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for ^bsyour beautiful crown
has come down from your head.”
19 ^btThe cities of the Negeb are shut up,
with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
wholly taken into exile.
20 “Lift up your eyes ^buand see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when they set as head over you
those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
^bvWill not pangs take hold of you
like those of a woman in labor?
22 And if you say in your heart,
^bw‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
that ^bxyour skirts are lifted up
and you suffer violence.
23 ^byCan the Ethiopian change his skin
or ^bzthe leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.
24 I will scatter you ^{▼▼Hebrew them} ^cblike chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.
25 ^ccThis is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because ^cdyou have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26 ^ceI myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen ^cfyour abominations,
your adulteries and ^cgneighings, your lewd whorings,
^chon the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be ^cibefore you are made clean?”