Jeremiah · Berean Standard Bible
Jeremiah 13 Berean Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”
1 Yahweh said to me, “Go, and buy yourself a linen belt, and put it on your waist, and don’t put it in water.”
2 So I bought a loincloth as the LORD had instructed me, and I put it around my waist.
2 So I bought a belt according to Yahweh’s word, and put it on my waist.
3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:
3 Yahweh’s word came to me the second time, saying,
4 “Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to Perath and hide it there in a crevice of the rocks.”
4 “Take the belt that you have bought, which is on your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.”
5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD had commanded me.
5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as Yahweh commanded me.
6 Many days later the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.”
6 After many days, Yahweh said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the belt from there, which I commanded you to hide there.”
7 So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all.
7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was ruined. It was profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
8 Then Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
9 “This is what the LORD says: In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
9 “Yahweh says, ‘In this way I will ruin the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.
10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods to serve them and to worship them, will even be as this belt, which is profitable for nothing.
11 For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I have made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me, declares the LORD, so that they might be My people for My renown and praise and glory. But they did not listen.
11 For as the belt 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 Yahweh; ‘that they may be to me for a people, for a name, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.’
12 Therefore you are to tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every wineskin shall be filled with wine.’ And when they reply, ‘Don’t we surely know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’
12 “Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Every container should be filled with wine.”’ They will tell you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every container should be filled with wine?’
13 then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem.
13 Then tell them, ‘Yahweh says, “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, with drunkenness.
14 I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”
14 I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says Yahweh: “I will not pity, spare, or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.”’”
15 Listen and give heed. Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.
15 Hear, and give ear. Don’t be proud, for Yahweh has spoken.
16 Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.
16 Give glory to Yahweh your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it deep darkness.
17 But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
17 But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride. My eye will weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because Yahweh’s flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Humble yourselves. Sit down, for your crowns have come down, even the crown of your glory.
19 The cities of the Negev have been shut tight, and no one can open them. All Judah has been carried into exile, wholly taken captive.
19 The cities of the South are shut up, and there is no one to open them. Judah is carried away captive: all of them. They are wholly carried away captive.
20 Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?
20 Lift up your eyes, and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?
21 What will you say when he sets over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? Won’t sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?
22 And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.
22 If you say in your heart, “Why have these things come on me?” Your skirts are uncovered because of the greatness of your iniquity, and your heels suffer violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good— you who are accustomed to doing evil.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
24 “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.
24 “Therefore I will scatter them as the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.
25 This is your lot, the portion measured to you from me,” says Yahweh, “because you have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.”
26 So I will pull your skirts up over your face, that your shame may be seen.
26 Therefore I will also uncover your skirts on your face, and your shame will appear.
27 Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields— I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”
27 I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries and your neighing, the lewdness of your prostitution, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, Jerusalem! You will not be made clean. How long will it yet be?”
Cross references (25)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Jeremiah 13:11; Hebrews 1:1; Jeremiah 19:1; Ezekiel 4:1–5; Jeremiah 27:2
- 2 Ezekiel 2:8; John 15:14; Proverbs 3:5; Isaiah 20:2; John 13:6–7
- 3 Jeremiah 13:8
- 4 Jeremiah 51:63–64; Micah 4:10; Psalm 137:1
- 5 Exodus 40:16; Exodus 39:42–43; Hebrews 11:17–19; 2 Timothy 2:3; John 2:5–8
- 7 Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:12; Jeremiah 24:1–8; Luke 14:34–35; Zechariah 3:3–4
- 9 Leviticus 26:19; Zephaniah 3:11; Jeremiah 13:15–17; Isaiah 23:9; Proverbs 16:18
- 10 Jeremiah 9:14; Jeremiah 16:12; Numbers 14:11; 2 Chronicles 36:15–16; Jeremiah 3:17
- 11 Exodus 19:5–6; Jeremiah 33:9; Isaiah 43:21; Psalm 81:11; Psalm 147:20
- 12 Ezekiel 24:19
- 13 Isaiah 51:17; Isaiah 63:6; Psalm 60:3; Psalm 75:8; Jeremiah 25:27
- 14 Deuteronomy 29:20; Psalm 2:9; Isaiah 9:20–21; Jeremiah 19:9–11; Jeremiah 21:7
- 15 Isaiah 28:14–22; Revelation 2:29; Isaiah 42:23; Jeremiah 26:15; James 4:10
- 16 Isaiah 59:9; Isaiah 8:22; Isaiah 60:2; Proverbs 4:19; Isaiah 5:30
- 17 Malachi 2:2; Jeremiah 9:1; Jeremiah 14:17; Romans 9:2–4; Luke 19:41–42
- 18 Jeremiah 22:26; 2 Kings 24:12; 2 Kings 24:15; 2 Chronicles 33:12; 2 Chronicles 33:19
- 19 Jeremiah 52:27; 2 Kings 25:21; Jeremiah 52:30; Deuteronomy 28:52; Jeremiah 39:9
- 20 Jeremiah 6:22; Jeremiah 1:14; Habakkuk 1:6; Jeremiah 23:2; Jeremiah 10:22
- 21 Isaiah 13:8; Jeremiah 4:31; Isaiah 10:3; Jeremiah 38:22; Jeremiah 5:31
- 22 Nahum 3:5; Jeremiah 16:10–11; Jeremiah 5:19; Lamentations 1:8; Deuteronomy 7:17
- 23 Jeremiah 2:22; Jeremiah 9:5; Matthew 19:24–28; Jeremiah 17:9; Jeremiah 5:3
- 24 Psalm 1:4; Leviticus 26:33; Hosea 13:3; Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 5:2
- 25 Job 20:29; Psalm 9:17; Psalm 11:6; Jeremiah 2:32; Matthew 24:51
- 26 Hosea 2:10; Lamentations 1:8; Ezekiel 23:29; Ezekiel 16:37; Jeremiah 13:22
- 27 Ezekiel 24:13; Ezekiel 6:13; Hosea 8:5; Isaiah 65:7; 2 Corinthians 12:21
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For Jeremiah too calls the people "a girdle," and makes mention again of "bottles" and of "wine." Thus, the discourse being about gluttony and a table, He takes His illustrations from the same.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)