Jer 13, Jer 27 | ESV | STEP | Thus says the Lord to me, Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist , and do not dip it in water .

1 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and ^aput 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, ^bgo to the Euphrates and hide it there in ^ca 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 ^dthe loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^ethe loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ^fspoiled; it was ^ggood for nothing.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: ^hEven so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great ⁱpride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^jwho stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ^kgood 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, ^lthat they might be for me a people, ^ma 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 ⁿevery jar will be filled with wine?’ 13 Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^oBehold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: ^pthe kings who sit on David’s throne, ^qthe priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14 And I will ^rdash 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 ^sGive glory to the Lord your God
^tbefore he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and ^uwhile you look for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it ^vdeep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
^wmy 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 ^xthe king and ^ythe queen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for ^zyour beautiful crown
has come down from your head.”
19 ^aaThe 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 ^aband 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?
^acWill not pangs take hold of you
like those of a woman in labor?
22 And if you say in your heart,
^ad‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
that ^aeyour skirts are lifted up
and you suffer violence.
23 ^afCan the Ethiopian change his skin
or ^agthe leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.
24 I will scatter you ^{▼▼Hebrew them} ^ailike chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.
25 ^ajThis is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because ^akyou have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26 ^alI myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen ^amyour abominations,
your adulteries and ^anneighings, your lewd whorings,
^aoon the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be ^apbefore you are made clean?”

Jeremiah 27

The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah ^{▼▼Or Jehoiakim} the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. 2 Thus the Lord said to me: ^ar“Make yourself straps and ^asyoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3 Send word ^{▼▼Hebrew Send them} to the king of ^auEdom, the king of ^avMoab, the king of the sons of ^awAmmon, the king of ^axTyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 “It is I who ^ayby my great power and my outstretched arm ^azhave made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, ^baand I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6 ^bbNow I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ^bcmy servant, ^bdand I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7 ^beAll the nations shall serve him and ^bfhis son and ^bghis grandson, ^bhuntil the time of his own land comes. ^biThen many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

8 “‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^bjand put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation ^bkwith the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9 So ^bldo not listen to your ^bmprophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your ^bnfortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 ^boFor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 ^bpBut any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.”’”

12 To ^bqZedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: ^br“Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and ^bsserve him and his people and live. 13 ^btWhy will you and your people die ^buby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, ^bvas the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 ^bwDo not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ ^bxfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 15 I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but ^bythey are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ^bzDo not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ^ca‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ ^cbfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 17 ^ccDo not listen to them; ^cdserve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city ^cebecome a desolation? 18 If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then ^cflet them intercede with the Lord of hosts, ^cgthat the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19 ^chFor thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, ^ciwhen he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ^cjconcerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 ^ckThey shall be carried to Babylon ^cland remain there ^cmuntil the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. ^cnThen I will bring them back ^coand restore them to this place.”