Jeremiah 13

Symbol of the Linen Sash

13Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it ¹around your waist, but do not put it in water.” ²So I got a ²sash according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist.

³And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, ⁴“Take the ³sash that you acquired, which is ⁴around your waist, and arise, go to the ⁵Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.” ⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

⁶Now it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the ⁶sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹“Thus says the Lord: ‘In this manner ^aI will ruin the pride of Judah and the great ^bpride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who ^crefuse to hear My words, who ^dfollow ⁷the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. ¹¹For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^ethey may become My people, ^ffor renown, for praise, and for ^gglory; but they would ^hnot hear.’

Symbol of the Wine Bottles

¹²“Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Every bottle shall be filled with wine.” ’

“And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?’

¹³“Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land—even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—ⁱwith drunkenness! ¹⁴And ^jI will dash them ⁸one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says the Lord. “I will not pity nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them.” ’ ”

Pride Precedes Captivity

¹⁵Hear and give ear:

Do not be proud,

For the Lord has spoken.

^16kGive glory to the Lord your God

Before He causes ^ldarkness,

And before your feet stumble

On the dark mountains,

And while you are ^mlooking for light,

He turns it into ⁿthe shadow of death

And makes it dense darkness.

¹⁷But if you will not hear it,

My soul will ^oweep in secret for your pride;

My eyes will weep bitterly

And run down with tears,

Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to ^pthe king and to the queen mother,

“Humble yourselves;

Sit down,

For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.”

¹⁹The cities of the South shall be shut up,

And no one shall open them;

Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it;

It shall be wholly carried away captive.

²⁰Lift up your eyes and see

Those who come from the ^qnorth.

Where is the flock that was given to you,

Your beautiful sheep?

²¹What will you say when He punishes you?

For you have taught them

To be chieftains, to be head over you.

Will not ^rpangs seize you,

Like a woman in ⁹labor?

²²And if you say in your heart,

^s“Why have these things come upon me?”

For the greatness of your iniquity

^tYour skirts have been uncovered,

Your heels ¹made bare.

²³Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?

Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.

²⁴“Therefore I will ^uscatter them ^vlike stubble

That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.

^25wThis is your lot,

The portion of your measures from Me,” says the Lord,

“Because you have forgotten Me

And trusted in ^xfalsehood.

²⁶Therefore ^yI will uncover your skirts over your face,

That your shame may appear.

²⁷I have seen your adulteries

And your lustful ^zneighings,

The lewdness of your harlotry,

Your abominations ^aon the hills in the fields.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

Will you still not be made clean?”