Jeremiah 13

The Ruined Loincloth

1 Thus the LORD said to me: "Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it 1 around your waist, but do not put it in water." 2 So I got a 2 sash 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 3 sash that you acquired, which is 4 around your waist, and arise, go to the 5 Euphrates, 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 6 sash 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 a I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great b pride of Jerusalem. 10 'This evil people, who c refuse to hear My words, who d follow 7 the 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 e they may become My people, f for renown, for praise, and for g glory; but they would h not hear.'

The Jars Filled with Wine

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 - i with drunkenness! 14 "And j I will dash them 8 one 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." ' "

Exile Threatened

15 Hear and give ear:
Do not be proud,
For the LORD has spoken. 16 k Give glory to the LORD your God
Before He causes l darkness,
And before your feet stumble
On the dark mountains,
And while you are m looking for light,
He turns it into n the shadow of death
And makes it dense darkness. 17 But if you will not hear it,
My soul will o weep in secret for your pride;
My eyes will weep bitterly
And run down with tears,
Because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

18 Say to p the king and to the queen mother,
"Humble yourselves;
Sit down,
For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory." 19 The 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.

20 Lift up your eyes and see
Those who come from the q north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
Your beautiful sheep? 21 What will you say when He punishes you?
For you have taught them
To be chieftains, to be head over you.
Will not r pangs seize you,
Like a woman in 9 labor? 22 And if you say in your heart,
s "Why have these things come upon me?"
For the greatness of your iniquity
t Your skirts have been uncovered,
Your heels 10 made bare. 23 Can 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 u scatter them v like stubble
That passes away by the wind of the wilderness. 25 w This is your lot,
The portion of your measures from Me," says the LORD,
"Because you have forgotten Me
And trusted in x falsehood. 26 Therefore y I will uncover your skirts over your face,
That your shame may appear. 27 I have seen your adulteries
And your lustful z neighings,
The lewdness of your harlotry,
Your abominations a on the hills in the fields.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
Will you still not be made clean?"

  1. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:19
    I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
  2. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:10 - 17
    Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty.
    Isaiah 23:9
    The LORD of hosts has purposed it, To bring to dishonor the pride of all glory, To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
    Zephaniah 3:11
    In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds In which you transgress against Me; For then I will take away from your midst Those who rejoice in your pride, And you shall no longer be haughty In My holy mountain.
  3. Cross References
    Jeremiah 16:12
    And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me.
  4. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:24
    Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.
    Jeremiah 16:12
    And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me.
  5. Cross References
    Exodus 19:5
    Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
    Exodus 19:6
    'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."
    Deuteronomy 32:10
    He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.
    Deuteronomy 32:11
    As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings.
  6. Cross References
    Jeremiah 33:9
    'Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.'
  7. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:21
    This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 81:11
    But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me.
    Jeremiah 7:13
    And now, because you have done all these works," says the LORD, "and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer.
    Jeremiah 7:24
    Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.
    Jeremiah 7:26
    Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 60:3
    You have shown Your people hard things; You hav...
    Psalms 75:8
    For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, And...
    Isaiah 51:17
    Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, You who ha...
    Isaiah 63:6
    I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, Ma...
    Jeremiah 25:27
    "Therefore you shall say to them, 'Thus says th...
    Jeremiah 51:7
    Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand, Th...
    Jeremiah 51:57
    And I will make drunk Her princes and wise men,...
  10. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 36:17
    Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand.
    Psalms 2:9
    You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'
    Isaiah 9:20
    And he shall snatch on the right hand And be hungry; He shall devour on the left hand And not be satisfied; Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
    Isaiah 9:21
    Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; Together they shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.
    Jeremiah 19:9 - 11
    "And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair."'
  11. Cross References
    Joshua 7:19
    Now Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.
    Psalms 96:8
    Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
    Malachi 2:2
    If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name," Says the LORD of hosts, "I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart.
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 5:30
    In that day they will roar against them Like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, Behold, darkness and sorrow; And the light is darkened by the clouds.
    Isaiah 8:22
    Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.
    Amos 8:9
    And it shall come to pass in that day," says the Lord GOD, "That I will make the sun go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in broad daylight.
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 59:9
    Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
  14. Cross References
    Psalms 44:19
    But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death.
    Jeremiah 2:6
    Neither did they say, 'Where is the LORD, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and pits, Through a land of drought and the shadow of death, Through a land that no one crossed And where no one dwelt?
  15. Cross References
    Psalms 119:136
    Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because men do not keep Your law.
    Jeremiah 9:1
    Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!
    Jeremiah 14:17
    Therefore you shall say this word to them: 'Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.
    Luke 19:41
    Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it.
    Luke 19:42
    Saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
  16. Cross References
    2 Kings 24:12
    Then Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king of Babylon; and the king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.
    Jeremiah 22:26
    So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die.
  17. Cross References
    Jeremiah 10:22
    Behold, the noise of the report has come, And a great commotion out of the north country, To make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of jackals.
    Jeremiah 46:20
    Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But destruction comes, it comes from the north.
  18. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:24
    We have heard the report of it; Our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, Pain as of a woman in labor.
  19. Cross References
    Jeremiah 16:10
    "And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, 'Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?'
  20. Cross References
    Isaiah 47:2
    Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, Take off the skirt, Uncover the thigh, Pass through the rivers.
    Ezekiel 16:37
    Surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
    Nahum 3:5
    Behold, I am against you," says the LORD of hosts; "I will lift your skirts over your face, I will show the nations your nakedness, And the kingdoms your shame.
  21. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:33
    I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
    Jeremiah 9:16
    "I will scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them."
    Ezekiel 5:2
    You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after them.
    Ezekiel 5:12
    One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
  22. Cross References
    Psalms 1:4
    The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
    Hosea 13:3
    Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud And like the early dew that passes away, Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor And like smoke from a chimney.
  23. Cross References
    Job 20:29
    This is the portion from God for a wicked man, The heritage appointed to him by God.
    Psalms 11:6
    Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup.
    Matthew 24:51
    And will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  24. Cross References
    Jeremiah 10:14
    Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them.
  25. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:8
    Jerusalem has sinned gravely, Therefore she has become vile. All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness; Yes, she sighs and turns away.
    Ezekiel 16:37
    Surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
    Hosea 2:10
    Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, And no one shall deliver her from My hand.
  26. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:7
    How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by those that are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, Then they committed adultery And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
    Jeremiah 5:8
    They were like well-fed lusty stallions; Every one neighed after his neighbor's wife.
  27. Cross References
    Isaiah 65:7
    Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together," Says the LORD, "Who have burned incense on the mountains And blasphemed Me on the hills; Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.
    Jeremiah 2:20
    For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, 'I will not transgress,' When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.
    Ezekiel 6:13
    Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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