Jeremiah 13
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1This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.”1This 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."
2So I bought the loincloth as the LORD directed me, and I put it on.2So I bought a belt, as the LORD directed, and put it around my waist.
3Then the LORD gave me another message:3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:
4“Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.”4"Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks."
5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the LORD had instructed me.5So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD told me.
6A long time afterward the LORD said to me, “Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.”6Many days later the LORD said to me, "Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there."
7So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing.7So 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.
8Then I received this message from the LORD:8Then the word of the LORD came to me:
9“This is what the LORD says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.9"This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth—good for nothing!10These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt--completely useless!
11As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the LORD. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.11For 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 and praise and honor. But they have not listened.'
12“So tell them, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: May all your jars be filled with wine.’ And they will reply, ‘Of course! Jars are made to be filled with wine!’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, ‘No, this is what the LORD means: I will fill everyone in this land with drunkenness—from the king sitting on David’s throne to the priests and the prophets, right down to the common people of Jerusalem.13then tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill with drunkenness 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.
14I will smash them against each other, even parents against children, says the LORD. I will not let my pity or mercy or compassion keep me from destroying them.’” A Warning against Pride14I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.'"
15Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.15Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.
16Give glory to the LORD your God before it is too late. Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness and gloom.16Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom.
17And if you still refuse to listen, I will weep alone because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock will be led away into exile.17If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the LORD's flock will be taken captive.
18Say to the king and his mother, “Come down from your thrones and sit in the dust, for your glorious crowns will soon be snatched from your heads.”18Say to the king and to the queen mother, "Come down from your thrones, for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads."
19The towns of the Negev will close their gates, and no one will be able to open them. The people of Judah will be taken away as captives. All will be carried into exile.19The cities in the Negev will be shut up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away.
20Open up your eyes and see the armies marching down from the north! Where is your flock— your beautiful flock— that he gave you to care for?20Look up and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was entrusted to you, the sheep of which you boasted?
21What will you say when the LORD takes the allies you have cultivated and appoints them as your rulers? Pangs of anguish will grip you, like those of a woman in labor!21What will you say when the LORD sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor?
22You may ask yourself, “Why is all this happening to me?” It is because of your many sins! That is why you have been stripped and raped by invading armies.22And if you ask yourself, "Why has this happened to me?"-- it is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated.
23Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you have always done evil.23Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
24“I will scatter you like chaff that is blown away by the desert winds.24"I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.
25This is your allotment, the portion I have assigned to you,” says the LORD, “for you have forgotten me, putting your trust in false gods.25This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you," declares the LORD, "because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods.
26I myself will strip you and expose you to shame.26I will pull up your skirts over your face that your shame may be seen--
27I have seen your adultery and lust, and your disgusting idol worship out in the fields and on the hills. What sorrow awaits you, Jerusalem! How long before you are pure?”27your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the fields. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will you be unclean?"
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.New International Version (NIV)

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Jeremiah 12
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