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Jeremiah 13
New International Version

### A Linen Belt

13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” 2 So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.

3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time:(A) 4 “Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath[a](B) and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” 5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.(C)

6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” 7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride(D) of Jerusalem. 10 These wicked people, who refuse to listen(E) to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts(F) and go after other gods(G) to serve and worship them,(H) will be like this belt—completely useless!(I) 11 For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown(J) and praise and honor.(K) But they have not listened.’(L)

### Wineskins

12 “Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ 13 then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkenness(M) all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. 14 I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity(N) or mercy or compassion(O) to keep me from destroying(P) them.’”

### Threat of Captivity

15 Hear and pay attention,
do not be arrogant,
for the Lord has spoken.(Q)
16 Give glory(R) to the Lord your God
before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble(S)
on the darkening hills.
You hope for light,
but he will turn it to utter darkness
and change it to deep gloom.(T)
17 If you do not listen,(U)
I will weep in secret
because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly,
overflowing with tears,(V)
because the Lord’s flock(W) will be taken captive.(X)

18 Say to the king(Y) and to the queen mother,(Z)
“Come down from your thrones,
for your glorious crowns(AA)
will fall from your heads.”
19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up,
and there will be no one to open them.
All Judah(AB) will be carried into exile,
carried completely away.

20 Look up and see
those who are coming from the north.(AC)
Where is the flock(AD) that was entrusted to you,
the sheep of which you boasted?
21 What will you say when the Lord sets over you
those you cultivated as your special allies?(AE)
Will not pain grip you
like that of a woman in labor?(AF)
22 And if you ask yourself,
“Why has this happened to me?”(AG)—
it is because of your many sins(AH)
that your skirts have been torn off(AI)
and your body mistreated.(AJ)
23 Can an Ethiopian[b] change his skin
or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.(AK)

24 “I will scatter you like chaff(AL)
driven by the desert wind.(AM)
25 This is your lot,
the portion(AN) I have decreed for you,”
declares the Lord,
“because you have forgotten(AO) me
and trusted in false gods.(AP)
26 I will pull up your skirts over your face
that your shame may be seen(AQ)—
27 your adulteries and lustful neighings,
your shameless prostitution!(AR)
I have seen your detestable acts
on the hills and in the fields.(AS)
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
How long will you be unclean?”(AT)

#### Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 13:4 Or possibly to the Euphrates; similarly in verses 5-7
2. Jeremiah 13:23 Hebrew Cushite (probably a person from the upper Nile region)

#### Cross references

1. Jeremiah 13:3 : Jer 33:1
2. Jeremiah 13:4 : S Ge 2:14
3. Jeremiah 13:5 : Ex 40:16
4. Jeremiah 13:9 : S Lev 26:19; S Mt 23:12; S Lk 1:51
5. Jeremiah 13:10 : Jer 22:21
6. Jeremiah 13:10 : S Ecc 9:3; S Jer 3:17
7. Jeremiah 13:10 : S Dt 8:19; Jer 9:14
8. Jeremiah 13:10 : S Jdg 10:13
9. Jeremiah 13:10 : Eze 15:3
10. Jeremiah 13:11 : Isa 63:12; Jer 32:20
11. Jeremiah 13:11 : Ex 19:5-6; Isa 43:21; S Jer 3:17
12. Jeremiah 13:11 : S Isa 65:12; S Jer 7:26
13. Jeremiah 13:13 : Ps 60:3; 75:8; S Isa 29:9; Jer 25:18; 51:57
14. Jeremiah 13:14 : Eze 7:4; 8:18; 9:5, 10; 24:14; Zec 11:6
15. Jeremiah 13:14 : S Isa 9:17; Jer 16:5
16. Jeremiah 13:14 : Dt 29:20; Isa 9:19-21; S Jer 7:20; 49:32, 36; La 2:21; Eze 5:10
17. Jeremiah 13:15 : S Ex 23:21; Ps 95:7-8
18. Jeremiah 13:16 : S Jos 7:19
19. Jeremiah 13:16 : S Lev 26:37; S Job 3:23; Isa 51:17; Jer 23:12
20. Jeremiah 13:16 : S 1Sa 2:9; S Job 3:5; S Ps 82:5
21. Jeremiah 13:17 : Mal 2:2
22. Jeremiah 13:17 : S Jer 9:1
23. Jeremiah 13:17 : Ps 80:1; Jer 23:1
24. Jeremiah 13:17 : Jer 14:18; 29:1
25. Jeremiah 13:18 : Jer 21:11; 22:1
26. Jeremiah 13:18 : S 1Ki 2:19; S 2Ki 24:8; S Isa 22:17
27. Jeremiah 13:18 : S 2Sa 12:30; La 5:16; Eze 16:12; 21:26
28. Jeremiah 13:19 : Jer 20:4; 52:30; La 1:3
29. Jeremiah 13:20 : Jer 6:22; Hab 1:6
30. Jeremiah 13:20 : Jer 23:2
31. Jeremiah 13:21 : S Ps 41:9; Jer 4:30; 20:10; 38:22; Ob 1:7
32. Jeremiah 13:21 : S Jer 4:31
33. Jeremiah 13:22 : S 1Ki 9:9
34. Jeremiah 13:22 : Jer 9:2-6; 16:10-12
35. Jeremiah 13:22 : S Isa 20:4
36. Jeremiah 13:22 : La 1:8; Eze 16:37; 23:26; Na 3:5-6
37. Jeremiah 13:23 : S 2Ch 6:36
38. Jeremiah 13:24 : S Ps 1:4
39. Jeremiah 13:24 : S Lev 26:33; S Job 1:19; S 27:21
40. Jeremiah 13:25 : S Job 20:29; Mt 24:51
41. Jeremiah 13:25 : S Isa 17:10
42. Jeremiah 13:25 : S Dt 31:20; S Ps 4:2; 106:19-21
43. Jeremiah 13:26 : La 1:8; Eze 16:37; Na 3:5
44. Jeremiah 13:27 : Eze 23:29
45. Jeremiah 13:27 : S Isa 57:7; Eze 6:13
46. Jeremiah 13:27 : Hos 8:5

New International Version (NIV)

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