Jeremiah 13

This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy yourself a linen belt. Put it around your waist, and do not let it touch water."

1Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.

NoteThe King James "girdle" is not a belt for holding up clothing but a wraparound cloth worn next to the skin at the waist, like a loincloth or waistcloth. Linen was the fine fabric used for priests' clothing. "Do not let it touch water" most likely means it was never to be washed.

2So I bought a belt, just as the LORD told me, and I put it around my waist.

2So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.

3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time. He said:

3And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,

4"Take the belt you bought, the one you are wearing. Get up, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a crack in the rocks."

4Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.

NoteThe Hebrew word is *Perath*. Spelled this way it normally means the Euphrates, the great river of Mesopotamia, some 350 miles from Jerusalem, a journey of weeks, made twice. But the same consonants also spell Parah, a village with a spring about four miles northeast of Jerusalem. Ancient and modern readers have gone both ways, and the Hebrew does not settle it.

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

5So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.

6Many days later the LORD said to me, "Get up, go to the Euphrates, and get the belt I told you to hide there."

6And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.

7So I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the belt from the place where I had hidden it. But the belt was ruined. It was good for nothing.

7Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.

8Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said:

8Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

9"This is what the LORD says: In this same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

9Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "pride" covers both arrogance and splendor, the thing a nation boasts of as well as the boasting itself.

10These evil people refuse to listen to my words. They follow their own stubborn hearts. They go after other gods, to serve them and worship them. They will end up like this belt, which is good for nothing.

10This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.

11For just as a belt clings to a man's waist, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD. I wanted them to be my people, and to bring me a name, praise, and honor. But they would not listen.

11For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

NoteAfter Solomon's death the kingdom split in two: the northern kingdom, called Israel, and the southern kingdom, called Judah, with Jerusalem as its capital. "The whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah" means the entire people, both halves.

12"So say this to them: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.' And they will answer you, 'Of course we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine.'

12Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?

NoteThe container is either a skin bottle sewn from a whole animal hide or a large clay wine jar; the Hebrew word covers both. The line reads like an everyday saying, and the hearers throw it back as an obvious remark, which is what lets the next verse turn it against them.

13Then say to them: 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill everyone who lives in this land with drunkenness. That includes the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and everyone living in Jerusalem.

13Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

Note"The kings who sit on David's throne" means the line of rulers descended from David, who had reigned in Jerusalem for roughly four centuries by Jeremiah's day.

14I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, says the LORD. I will not pity them, or spare them, or show mercy. I will destroy them.'"

14And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

Note"Smash them against one another" continues the image of verse 12: jars knocked together and broken. It works because the same Hebrew word can mean a breakable clay vessel as well as a wineskin.

15Listen, and pay attention. Do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken.

15Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

16Give honor to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, and before your feet stumble on the hills as night falls. You keep waiting for light, but he turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

16Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.

Note"Give glory to God" was a set phrase used when someone was pressed to admit the truth openly. The picture that follows is of a traveler caught on mountain paths at dusk, when the light fails before shelter is reached.

17But if you will not listen, I will weep alone where no one can see, because of your pride. My eyes will cry hard and stream with tears, because the LORD's flock has been carried off as prisoners.

17But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock is carried away captive.

Note"The LORD's flock" is the people themselves; kings and rulers were commonly called shepherds, and their subjects the flock, throughout the ancient Near East.

18Say to the king and to the queen mother, "Come down and take a low seat, because your rule is over. The crowns you were proud of have fallen from your heads."

18Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.

NoteIn Judah the king's mother held a recognized position at court, with rank above the king's wives, and was addressed by a formal title. Judah is generally taken to be under King Jehoiachin and his mother Nehushta here; both were deported to Babylon in 597 BC after a reign of three months.

19The cities of the south are shut tight, and no one can open them. All of Judah has been carried away as prisoners. Every last one has been taken away.

19The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.

Note"The cities of the south" is the Negev, the dry grazing country south of Judah, the region farthest from an invader coming from the north, so its being sealed off means the whole land is cut off, with nowhere left to flee.

20Look up and see the people coming from the north. Where is the flock that was handed over to you, the fine flock you were so proud of?

20Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?

NoteArmies from Mesopotamia could not cross the desert directly and had to follow the Euphrates north and then come down through Syria, so invasion always arrived at Judah from the north.

21What will you say when he punishes you? You yourself trained them to be your leaders and to rule over you. Will pain not grip you, like a woman in labor?

21What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

NoteThe Hebrew is compressed and has been read more than one way: either that foreign powers Judah once courted as allies and trained in its ways will now be set over it as masters, or that the people Judah taught to be its leaders will turn on it. The verse does not specify who "them" are.

22And if you ask yourself, "Why has this happened to me?", it is because your sin is so great. That is why your skirts have been pulled off and your body left bare.

22And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.

NoteStripping a woman naked in public was a known punishment and public shaming for adultery. "Heels made bare" in the King James is a euphemism: the Hebrew avoids naming the lower body directly.

23Can a man from Ethiopia change the color of his skin? Can a leopard change its spots? Then neither can you do good, because you are used to doing evil.

23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

NoteThe King James "Ethiopian" translates *Cushite*, a person from Cush, the kingdom on the Nile south of Egypt, in what is now Sudan. The point is a fixed, unchangeable trait, not a judgment on the person.

24"So I will scatter them like dry straw that blows away in the wind from the desert.

24Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.

NoteAfter grain was threshed and tossed into the air, the light broken straw blew away while the heavy kernels fell, the standard image for something worthless and scattered beyond recovery.

25This is your lot, the share I have measured out for you, says the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

25This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

Note"Lot" and "measured share" are the language of dividing land: property was allotted by casting lots and marked off with a measuring line. The share being handed out here is punishment.

26So I myself will pull your skirts up over your face, and your shame will be seen.

26Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.

27I have seen how unfaithful you have been. I have seen your lustful cries, like the neighing of horses, and your shameless prostitution, and your disgusting acts on the hills and in the fields. How terrible for you, Jerusalem! Will you not be made clean? How long will it take?

27I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

NoteProphets routinely described the nation's turning to other gods as a wife's unfaithfulness, since the bond between God and Israel was spoken of as a marriage. "On the hills and in the fields" points to the open-air shrines set up on hilltops, where worship of other gods took place, sometimes involving sexual rites, which is what makes the language of prostitution and the neighing of horses in heat more than mere insult.