Jeremiah 13

All 27 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1The LORD told me, "Go buy yourself a linen belt and wear it around your waist, but don't wash it in water."
2. 2So I bought the belt, just as the LORD instructed, and put it around my waist.
3. 3Then the LORD spoke to me a second time:
4. 4"Take the belt you bought — the one you're wearing — and travel to the Euphrates. Hide it there in a crack in the rocks."
5. 5So I went and hid it near the Euphrates, just as the LORD commanded.
6. 6After a long time had passed, the LORD said to me, "Go back to the Euphrates and retrieve the belt I told you to hide there."
7. 7So I went back to the Euphrates, dug up the belt from where I had hidden it, and found that it was completely ruined — useless, good for nothing.
8. 8Then the LORD spoke to me again:
9. 9This is what the LORD says: In this way, I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10. 10These evil people refuse to listen to my words. They follow the imagination of their hearts and pursue other gods to serve and worship them. They will be like this belt, which is good for nothing.
11. 11"Just as a belt clings to a man's waist, so I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to me," says the LORD, "so that they might be for me a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen."
12. 12"So tell them this message: 'The LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine.' They'll respond, 'Obviously! Don't we already know that every jar should be filled with wine?'
13. 13Then tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill everyone living in this land with drunkenness — the kings sitting on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and every person in Jerusalem.
14. 14I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons together,' declares the LORD. 'I will not pity, spare, or have mercy, but will destroy them.'
15. 15Listen carefully and pay attention. Don't be proud, because the LORD has spoken.
16. 16Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness—before your feet stumble on the dark mountains. While you look for light, he will turn it into the shadow of death and make it a deep, overwhelming darkness.
17. 17But if you refuse to listen, my soul will weep in secret over your pride; my eyes will weep sore and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock has been carried away captive.
18. 18Say to the king and the queen mother, 'Humble yourselves and sit down, for your authority will fall, even the crown of your glory.'
19. 19The cities in the south are locked shut, and no one can open them. All of Judah is being carried off into exile — every last person, taken captive.
20. 20Look up and see the armies coming from the north! Where is the flock that was entrusted to you — your beautiful flock?
21. 21What will you say when he punishes you? For you have taught them to be leaders and rulers over you. Won't sorrows seize you like a woman in labor?
22. 22If you ask yourself, 'Why is all this happening to me?' — it is because of the greatness of your sin that your skirts are lifted, and your heels are exposed.
23. 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then you, who are accustomed to doing evil, can also do good.
24. 24"So I will scatter you like straw blown away by a desert wind.
25. 25This is your lot, the portion I have measured for you," declares the LORD, "because you have forgotten me and trusted in falsehood.
26. 26"I myself will strip your skirts up over your face so your shame is exposed for everyone to see.
27. 27I have seen your adulteries, your neighings, the lewdness of your whoredom, and your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you not be made clean? How long will it be?