Jeremiah 13
1 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”
[One day] Yahweh said to me, “Go and buy a linen waistcloth. Put it on, but do not wash it.”
2 So I bought a loincloth as the LORD had instructed me, and I put it around my waist.
So I bought a [very nice] waistcloth, which is what Yahweh told me to do, and I put it on.
3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:
Then [later] Yahweh gave me another message.
4 “Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to Perath and hide it there in a crevice of the rocks.”
He said, “Go to the small Perath Stream [near Jerusalem] and hide your waistcloth in a crevice/hole in the rocks.”
5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD had commanded me.
So I went to the stream and did what Yahweh told me to do.
6 Many days later the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.”
A long time later, Yahweh said to me, “Go [back] to that stream and get the waistcloth that I told you to hide there.”
7 So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all.
So I went to the Perath Stream and dug out the waistcloth from the crevice/hole in which I had hidden it. But it was ruined, and useless.
8 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
Then Yahweh gave me this message:
9 “This is what the LORD says: In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
“[What happened to your waistcloth] shows that I will destroy the things that [the people of] Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah are very proud of.
10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.
Those wicked people refuse to pay attention to what I say. They stubbornly do just what they desire to do; they worship other gods. Therefore, they will become completely useless, like your waistcloth.
11 For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I have made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me, declares the LORD, so that they might be My people for My renown and praise and glory. But they did not listen.
Just like a waistcloth clings closely/tightly to a man’s waist, I wanted the people [MTY] of Israel and Judah to cling closely to me. I wanted them to be my people, people who would praise me and honor me. But they would not pay attention [to me]. “
12 Therefore you are to tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every wineskin shall be filled with wine.’ And when they reply, ‘Don’t we surely know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’
“[So], tell this to them: ‘Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli [people worship], says that every leather wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And [when you tell that to them], they will reply, ‘(Of course/Certainly) we know [RHQ] that all wineskins should be filled with wine!’
13 then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem.
And then you must tell them, ‘No, that is not what Yahweh means. What he said means that he will cause this land to be filled with people who are drunk. [That will include all of you]—the king who sits on the throne that King David previously sat on, the priests and the prophets, and even the common people of Jerusalem.’
14 I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”
[He is saying], ‘I will cause you to bash each other. [Even] parents will bash their children. I will not pity you or act mercifully toward you at all; pitying you will not prevent me from getting rid of you.’”
15 Listen and give heed. Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.
[You people of Judah], pay very careful attention [DOU]. Do not be proud, because Yahweh has spoken to you.
16 Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.
[It is as though] he is ready to bring darkness on you and to cause you to stumble and fall [as you walk] on the hills when it is becoming dark. [So] praise/honor Yahweh your God before that happens. If you do not do that, you will look for light, but all you will see is darkness and gloom.
17 But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
And if you [still] refuse to heed what he says, [what will happen to you because of] your being proud will cause me to cry when I am alone. My eyes will be filled with tears because [you], Yahweh’s people, [whom he takes care of like a shepherd takes care of] [MET] his flock, will [all] be [captured by your enemies and] taken to other countries.
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”
[You people of Judah], say to the king and to his mother, “Come down from sitting on your thrones and [humbly] sit in the dust, because [your enemies] will soon snatch from your heads your glorious crowns.”
19 The cities of the Negev have been shut tight, and no one can open them. All Judah has been carried into exile, wholly taken captive.
The towns in the southern part of Judah will be surrounded by your enemies, and no one will be able to get through their lines [to rescue the people in those towns]. [You people of] Judah will be captured and taken away; you will all be (exiled/taken [to foreign countries)].
20 Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?
[You leaders of Jerusalem], open your eyes and look: [The enemy armies are ready to] march down from the north. [When that happens], what will happen to [RHQ] the [people of Judah who are like] a beautiful flock of sheep, people that he gave to you to take care of?
21 What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?
What will you say [RHQ] when Yahweh appoints people from other countries to rule over you, people who you [mistakenly] thought were your friends? You will [RHQ] suffer very much pain, like a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.
22 And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.
You will ask yourselves, “Why is this happening to us?” [I will reply that] it is because of your many sins. That is why [soldiers of the invading armies] will lift up the skirts [of your women] and rape them.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good— you who are accustomed to doing evil.
A man from Ethiopia certainly cannot [RHQ] change the color of his [black] skin, and a leopard certainly cannot [RHQ] change its spots. Similarly, you cannot start doing what is good, because you have always done what is evil.
24 “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.
[Yahweh says], “I will scatter you like chaff that is blown away by the wind from the desert.
25 This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.
That is what is certainly going to happen to you; the things that I have determined will happen to you, because you have forgotten me, and you are trusting in false [gods].
26 So I will pull your skirts up over your face, that your shame may be seen.
[It is as though] I myself will pull your skirts up over your faces and cause you to be very ashamed because everyone will be able to see your sex organs.
27 Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields— I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”
I have seen that you [act like men who are eager to commit adultery]; you are like male horses that whinny when they desire [to have sex with] a female horse. I have seen that you worship disgusting idols in the fields and on the hills. [You people of] Jerusalem, terrible things will happen to you! How long will it be [RHQ] until you are acceptable to me [again]?”
