The Lord Answers Jeremiah

5 “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you,

Then how can you contend with horses?

And if in the land of peace,

In which you trusted, they wearied you,

Then how will you do in jthe 2floodplain of the Jordan?

6 For even kyour brothers, the house of your father,

Even they have dealt treacherously with you;

Yes, they have called 3a multitude after you.

lDo not believe them,

Even though they speak 4smooth words to you.

7 “I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage;

I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.

8 My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest;

It cries out against Me;

Therefore I have mhated it.

9 My 5heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture;

The vultures all around are against her.

Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,

nBring them to devour!

10 “Many orulers 6have destroyed pMy vineyard,

They have qtrodden My portion underfoot;

They have made My 7pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

11 They have made it rdesolate;

Desolate, it mourns to Me;

The whole land is made desolate,

Because sno one takes it to heart.

12 The plunderers have come

On all the desolate heights in the wilderness,

For the sword of the Lord shall devour

From one end of the land to the other end of the land;

No flesh shall have peace.

13 tThey have sown wheat but reaped thorns;

They have 8put themselves to pain but do not profit.

But be ashamed of your harvest

Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

14 Thus says the Lord: “Against all My evil neighbors who utouch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit—behold, I will vpluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15 wThen it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them xand bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land. 16 And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, yto swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be zestablished in the midst of My people. 17 But if they do not aobey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the Lord.

Symbol of the Linen Sash

13 Thus 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.” 2 So I got a 2sash according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist.

3 And 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.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

6 Now 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.” 7 Then 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.

8 Then 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. 10 This 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. 11 For 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! 14 And 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.” ’ ”