Jeremiah 12–13

12TH CHAPTER

Jeremiah’s Question

¹O Lord, even if I would argue my case with you, 

you would always be right. 

Yet, I want to talk to you about your justice. 

Why do wicked people succeed? 

Why do treacherous people have peace and quiet? 

²You plant them, and they take root. 

They grow, and they produce fruit. 

They speak well of you with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from you. 

³You know me, O Lord. 

You see me and test my devotion to you. 

Drag them away like sheep to be slaughtered. 

Prepare them for the day of slaughter. 

⁴How long will the land mourn? 

How long will the plants in every field remain dried up? 

The animals and the birds are dying, 

because people are wicked. 

They think that God^adoesn’t know what they are doing. 

The Lord’s Reply

⁵“If you have raced against others on foot, and they have tired you out, 

how can you compete with horses? 

If you stumble in open country, 

how can you live in the jungle along the Jordan River? 

⁶Even your relatives and members of your father’s household betray you. 

They have also formed a mob to find you. 

Don’t trust them when they say good things about you. 

⁷“I have abandoned my nation. 

I have left my own people. 

I have handed the people I love over to their enemies. 

⁸My people have turned on me like a lion in the forest. 

They roar at me, so I hate them. 

⁹My people are like a colorful bird of prey. 

Other birds of prey surround it. 

Go, gather all the animals in the field, 

and bring them to devour it. 

¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. 

They’ve trampled my property. 

They’ve turned my pleasant property into a wasteland. 

¹¹They’ve left it a wasteland. 

Devastated, it mourns in my presence. 

The whole land is destroyed, 

but no one takes this to heart. 

¹²Looters swarm all over the bare hills in the desert. 

The Lord’s sword destroys them 

from one end of the land to the other. 

No one will be safe. 

¹³My people planted wheat, but they harvested thorns. 

They worked until they became sick, but they gained nothing by it. 

They were disappointed by their harvests 

because of the burning anger of the Lord. 

¹⁴“This is what I, the Lord, say about all my evil neighbors who take the inheritance that I gave my people Israel: I am going to uproot those neighbors from their lands. I will also uproot the people of Judah from among them. ¹⁵After I’ve uprooted them, I will have compassion on them again. I will return them to their inheritance and to their lands. ¹⁶Suppose they learn carefully the ways of my people. Suppose they take an oath in my name, ‘As the Lord lives …’ as they taught my people to take an oath in ⸤the name of⸥ Baal. Then they will build homes among my people. ¹⁷But suppose they don’t listen. Then I will uproot that nation and destroy it,” declares the Lord. 

13TH CHAPTER

Jeremiah’s Linen Belt

¹This is what the Lord said to me: “Buy a linen belt. Put it around your waist. Don’t let it get wet.” ²So I bought the belt, as the Lord had told me, and put it around my waist. 

³The Lord spoke his word to me again. He said, ⁴“Take the belt that you bought, the one you’re wearing. Go to the Euphrates River, and bury it there in a crack in the rocks.” ⁵So I went and buried it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had told me. 

⁶After many days the Lord said to me, “Go to the Euphrates, and get the belt from where I told you to bury it.” ⁷So I went back to the Euphrates and dug it up. I got the belt from where I had buried it. Now the belt was ruined. It was good for nothing. 

⁸Then the Lord spoke his word to me. He said, ⁹“This is what the Lord says: This is how I will destroy Judah’s arrogance and Jerusalem’s extreme arrogance. ¹⁰These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They go their own stubborn ways and follow other gods in order to serve them and worship them. They are like this good-for-nothing belt. ¹¹As a belt clings to a person’s waist, so I have made the entire nation of Israel and the entire nation of Judah cling to me,” declares the Lord. “I did this so that they would be my people and bring fame, praise, and honor to me. However, they wouldn’t listen. 

¹²“Give this message to them, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Every bottle will be filled with wine.’ Then they will say to you, ‘We know that every bottle will be filled with wine.’ ¹³Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m going to make everyone who lives in this land drunk. The kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those who live in Jerusalem will become drunk. ¹⁴Then I will smash them like bottles against each other. I will smash parents and children together, declares the Lord. I will have no pity, mercy, or compassion when I destroy them.’ ” 

¹⁵Listen, and pay attention! 

Don’t be arrogant. The Lord has spoken. 

¹⁶Honor the Lord your God before it gets dark, 

before your feet stumble on the mountains in the twilight. 

You will look for light, 

but the Lord will turn it into the shadow of death 

and change it into deep darkness. 

¹⁷If you won’t listen, 

I will cry secretly over your arrogance. 

I will cry bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears 

because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive. 

¹⁸Say to the king and his mother, 

“Come down from your thrones, 

because your crowns have fallen off your heads.” 

¹⁹The cities in the Negev will be locked up, 

and there will be no one to reopen them. 

All the people of Judah will be taken away into captivity. 

²⁰Look up, and see those who are coming from the north. 

Where is the flock that was given to you—your beautiful sheep? 

²¹What will you say 

when God makes the people you thought were your friends 

your new masters? 

Won’t pain grip you like a woman in labor? 

²²If you ask yourself, 

“Why do these things happen to me?” 

it’s because you have so many sins. 

Your clothes have been torn off 

and your limbs are bare. 

²³Can Ethiopians change the color of their skin 

or leopards change their spots? 

Can you do good 

when you’re taught to do wrong? 

²⁴“I will scatter you like straw that is blown away by a desert wind. 

²⁵This is your fate, the destiny I have planned for you,” 

declares the Lord. 

“You have forgotten me and trusted false gods. 

²⁶I will also tear off your clothes, 

and your shame will be seen. 

²⁷I have seen you commit adultery and squeal with delight. 

I have seen you act like a shameless prostitute 

on the hills and in the fields. 

How horrible it will be for you, Jerusalem! 

Will you ever be clean?”^a