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Jeremiah 13 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

The Ruined Waistband

Jer 13:1

Thus the LORD said to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it on your [fn]loins, but do not put it in water.”

Jer 13:2So I bought the waistband according to the word of the LORD and put it on my loins.
Jer 13:3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying,
Jer 13:4“Get up and take the waistband that you have bought, which is [wrapped] around your loins, and go to the [river] Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.”
Jer 13:5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had commanded me.
Jer 13:6And after many days the LORD said to me, “Get up, go to the Euphrates and get the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.”
Jer 13:7Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistband was decayed and ruined; it was completely worthless.
Jer 13:8

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jer 13:9“Thus says the LORD, ‘In this same way I shall destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
Jer 13:10‘These wicked and malevolent people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubborn way of their heart and have followed other gods [which are nothing—just man-made carvings] to serve them and to worship them, let them be just like this waistband which is completely worthless.
Jer 13:11‘For as the waistband clings to the body of a man, so I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the LORD, ‘that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory; but they did not listen and obey.’

Captivity Threatened

Jer 13:12

“Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jar should be filled with wine.”’ The people will say to you, ‘Do we not already know that every jar should be filled with wine?’

Jer 13:13“Then say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to fill with drunkenness all the people of this land, even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all the people of Jerusalem.
Jer 13:14“I will smash them one against another, both the fathers and the sons together,” says the LORD. “I shall destroy them [nothing will restrain Me]; I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion.”’”
Jer 13:15

Listen and pay close attention, do not be haughty and overconfident,

For the LORD has spoken [says Jeremiah].

Jer 13:16

Give glory to the LORD your God,

Before He brings darkness

And before your feet stumble

On the dark and shadowy mountains,

And while you are longing for light

He turns it into the shadow of death,

And makes it into thick darkness.

Jer 13:17

But if you will not listen and obey,

My soul will weep in secret for your pride;

My eyes will weep bitterly

And flow with tears,

Because the LORDS flock has been taken captive.

Jer 13:18

Say to the king and the queen mother,

“Humble yourselves and take a lowly seat,

For your beautiful crown [the crown of your glory]

Has come down from your head.”

Jer 13:19

The cities of the South (the Negev) have been closed up,

And there is no one to open them;

All Judah has been carried into exile,

Completely carried away into exile.

Jer 13:20

“Lift up your eyes and see

Those coming from the north.

Where is the flock that was given to you [to shepherd],

Your beautiful flock?

Jer 13:21

“What will you say [O Jerusalem] when the LORD appoints [foreign nations to rule] over you—

Those former friends and allies whom you have encouraged [to be your companions]

Will not pain seize you

Like [that of] a woman in childbirth?

Jer 13:22

“And if you [wonder and] say in your heart,

‘Why have these things happened to me?’

It is because of the greatness and nature of your sin

That your skirts have been [fn]pulled away [subjecting you to public disgrace]

And [like a barefoot slave] your heels have been wounded.

Jer 13:23

“Can the Ethiopian change his skin

Or the leopard his spots?

Then you also can do good

Who are accustomed to evil and even trained to do it.

Jer 13:24

“Therefore I will scatter you like drifting straw

[Driven away] by the desert wind.

Jer 13:25

“This is your destiny, the portion [of judgment] measured to you

From Me,” says the LORD,

“Because you have forgotten Me

And trusted in [pagan] lies [the counterfeit gods, and the pretense of alliance].”

Jer 13:26

“So I Myself will throw your skirts up over your face,

That your shame may be exposed [publicly].

Jer 13:27

“I have seen your vile and detestable acts,

Even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols],

And the lewdness of your prostitution

On the hills in the fields.

Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Jerusalem!

How long will you remain unclean [by ignoring My precepts]?”

AMP Footnotes
The midsection of the body between the lower ribs and the hips.
Using the expression for the violation of a woman, the writer describes how the Babylonians would deal with Judah.
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Jeremiah Chapter 13 — Additional Translations: