Jeremiah 13

13 ¹ This is what our Father said to me: "Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water."

² So I bought the loincloth, as our Father had spoken, and put it around my waist.

³ Then the word of our Father came to me a second time:

⁴ "Take the loincloth that you bought, which is around your waist, and get up, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks."

⁵ So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as our Father had commanded me.

⁶ And after many days our Father said to me, "Get up, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there."

⁷ So I went to the Euphrates, dug it up, and took the loincloth from where I had hidden it. But the loincloth was ruined; it was good for nothing.

⁸ Then the word of our Father came to me:

⁹ "This is what our Father says: In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who follow their own stubborn hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and bow down to them, will be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. ¹¹ For just as a loincloth clings to a man's waist, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares our Father, that they might be my people, my renown, my praise, and my glory — but they would not listen.

Every Jar Filled With Judgment

¹² So say this to them: This is what our Father, the Father of Israel, says: Every jar is to be filled with wine. And they will say to you, "Don't we know perfectly well that every jar is to be filled with wine?" ¹³ Then say to them: This is what our Father says: I am about to fill all who live in this land — the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all who live in Jerusalem — with drunkenness. ¹⁴ I will smash them against each other, parents and children alike, declares our Father. I will show no pity, no mercy, no compassion that would keep me from destroying them.

Hear Before the Darkness Falls

¹⁵ Listen and pay attention; do not be proud, for our Father has spoken. ¹⁶ Give glory to your Father before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening mountains; you will hope for light, but he will turn it into deep gloom and make it total darkness. ¹⁷ But if you will not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and stream with tears, because our Father's flock has been taken captive. ¹⁸ Say to the king and to the queen mother: Humble yourselves and sit down, for your glorious crown has fallen from your head. ¹⁹ The cities of the Negev are shut up, with no one to open them. All Judah is carried into exile, carried away completely. ²⁰ Look up and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful flock? ²¹ What will you say when he appoints those you yourself trained as your allies to be your rulers? Will not pains grip you like a woman in labor? ²² And if you ask yourself, "Why have these things happened to me?" — it is because of the greatness of your guilt that your skirts have been stripped off and you have been violated. ²³ Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard its spots? Then you also could do good — you who are trained to do evil. ^a a v23 Cush was the land south of Egypt along the upper Nile, in the region of modern Sudan and Ethiopia.

²⁴ I will scatter you like chaff that the desert wind blows away. ²⁵ This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, declares our Father, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies. ²⁶ So I myself will pull your skirts up over your face, and your shame will be seen. ²⁷ Your adulteries, your lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution — on the hills and in the open field I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long until you are made clean?