Jeremiah 13
1 [One day] Yahweh said to me, “Go and buy a linen waistcloth. Put it on, but do not wash it.”
Yahweh said this to me, “Go and buy a linen undergarment and put it on around your waist, but do not put it in water first.”
2 So I bought a [very nice] waistcloth, which is what Yahweh told me to do, and I put it on.
So I bought an undergarment as Yahweh directed, and I put in on around my waist.
3 Then [later] Yahweh gave me another message.
Then the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying,
4 He said, “Go to the small Perath Stream [near Jerusalem] and hide your waistcloth in a crevice/hole in the rocks.”
“Take the undergarment that you purchased that is around your waist, get up and go now to Perath. Hide it there in a rock crevice.”
5 So I went to the stream and did what Yahweh told me to do.
So I went and hid it in Perath, just as Yahweh had commanded me.
6 A long time later, Yahweh said to me, “Go [back] to that stream and get the waistcloth that I told you to hide there.”
After many days, Yahweh said to me, “Get up and go back to Perath. Take from there the undergarment that I had told you to hide.”
7 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.
So I went back to Perath and dug out the undergarment where I had hid it, and behold, it was destroyed and completely useless.
8 Then Yahweh gave me this message:
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
9 “[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.
“Yahweh says this: In the same way I will destroy the great arrogance of Judah and Jerusalem.
10 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.
This wicked people who refuses to listen to my word, who walk in the hardness of their heart, who go after other gods to worship them and bow down to them—they will be like this undergarment that is good for nothing.
11 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]. “
For just as an undergarment clings to someone's hips, so I have made all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah cling to me—this is Yahweh's declaration—to be my people, to bring me fame, praise, and honor. But they would not listen to me.
12 “[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!’
So you must speak this word to them, 'Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this: Every jar will be filled with wine.' They will say to you, 'Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?'
13 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.’
So say to them, 'Yahweh says this: See, I am about to fill with drunkenness every inhabitant of this land, the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
14 [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.’”
Then I will smash each man against the other, fathers and children together—this is Yahweh's declaration—I will not pity them or have compassion, and I will not spare them from destruction.'”
15 [You people of Judah], pay very careful attention [DOU]. Do not be proud, because Yahweh has spoken to you.
Listen and pay attention. Do not be arrogant, for Yahweh had spoken.
16 [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.
Give honor to Yahweh your God before he brings darkness, and before he causes your feet to stumble on the mountains at twilight. For you are hoping for light, but he will turn the place into a deep darkness, into a dark cloud.
17 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.
So if you will not listen, I will weep alone because of your arrogance. My eyes will certainly weep and flow with tears, for Yahweh's flock has been taken captive.
18 [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.”
“Say to the king and to the queen mother, 'Come down from your thrones, for your splendid crowns have fallen from your heads.'
19 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)].
The cities in the Negev will be shut up, with no one to open them. All Judah will be taken captive, completely taken captive.
20 [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?
Lift up your eyes and look at the ones coming from the north. Where is the flock he gave to you, the flock that was so beautiful to you?
21 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.
What will you say when God sets over you those you had trained to be your special allies? Are these not the beginnings of the labor pains that will seize you just like a woman in childbirth?
22 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.
Then you might say in your heart, 'Why are these things happening to me?' It will be for the multitude of your iniquities that your skirts are raised up and you have been violated.
23 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.
Can the people of Cush change their skin color, or a leopard change its spots? If so, then you yourself, although accustomed to wickedness, would be able to do good.
24 [Yahweh says], “I will scatter you like chaff that is blown away by the wind from the desert.
So I will scatter them like chaff that perishes in the desert wind.
25 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].
This is what I have given to you, the portion I have decreed for you—this is Yahweh's declaration— because you have forgotten me and trusted in deceit.
26 [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.
So also I myself will strip your skirts off you, and your private parts will be seen.
27 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]?”
I have seen your adultery and neighing, the wickedness of your prostitution on the hills and in the fields, and I have seen these detestable things! Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long until you are made clean again?”
