Jeremiah 13
God will strip Judah of pride
Jeremiah acts out a message with cloth
1This is what the LORD told me to do:“Buy a linen waistband [1] and wear it right from the merchant. Don’t wash it. Just wear it.”
2So I did. I bought it and wore it around my waist. 3Later, the LORD said, 4“Take a trip up to the Euphrates River. [2] When you get there, hide the waistband in the crack of some rocks” 5And that’s what I did. I hid the waistband at the Euphrates, as the LORD said.
6Many days later the LORD said, “Go back to the Euphrates and get the waistband I told you to hide.” 7So I went back to the Euphrates and dug through the rocks until I found the waistband. By this time, it was rotted and good for nothing.
God ruins reputation of chosen people
8Then the LORD explained why he had me do this. 9He told me to tell the people:This is a message directly from the LORD. Just as Jeremiah’s waistband became ruined, I will ruin the reputation of Judah and destroy the pride of Jerusalem. 10This waistband is worthless. And that’s what will happen to these evil people who ignore me and who stubbornly worship idols. I’ll see to it. 11The waistband is tied proudly to a person. I wanted Israel and Judah tied that proudly to me. I wanted to build for them a great reputation. And I wanted others to honor me because of what I did for them. But they didn’t want anything to do with me.
Getting Judah drunk
12The LORD said to tell them this message comes directly from the LORD:Every wine jar should be filled with wine. [3] When they answer, “Well, duh. We know that,” 13Tell them, “You are the wine jars. The LORD says he’s going to get all of you so drunk and confused that you won’t know your teeth from your toes. [4] That includes kings sitting on David’s throne, priests, prophets, and everyone else. 14I’ll smash those people together like I’m breaking toys, parents and kids alike. I won’t show any pity, mercy, or compassion. I will kill them all.”
God to Judah: Don’t get snooty
15Listen and listen good.
Don’t get snooty
Because this is the LORD talking.
Before he turns out the lights,
And before you trip in the darkness
as you run for your lives.
17If you’re too proud to listen,
I’ll cry for you until my eyes burn.
For though you are the LORD’s people,
You’re going to become someone else’s prisoner.
18So go ahead and tell your king and queen mother,
“Step down and take off your crowns.”
19Negev cities in the desert are surrounded.
No one is coming to their rescue.
Everyone captured in Judah gets exiled.
Invaders from the north
20Here they come,
Invaders from the north.
Where are your people now,
The ones you bragged so much about?
Turn against you and attack?
It’s going to hurt like a lady in labor.
22If you ask why this is happening,
I’ll tell you why
Your clothes are ripped off
And your body is violated.
It’s because of all your sins.
Permanent: Leopard spots and Judah’s sin
23Can Ethiopians change the color of their skin?
Can leopards erase their spots?
You’re not about to change your wicked ways, either.
Like flakes of grain chaff
Blowing in the wind.
25The LORD says,
That’s what you get for leaving me
And putting your hope in fake gods.
26I’m going to strip you down
Until all you have left is your shame. [5]
When it comes to pride, you’ll be naked.
27I’ll expose your religious prostitution [6]
And those disgusting worship rituals
You practiced on hills and fields everywhere.
You’re doomed, Jerusalem.
How long will it take you
To clean yourself up and come back to me?
Footnotes
Scholars debate what Jeremiah wore. The Hebrew word has been translated as loincloth, undershorts, shorts, girdle, and waistcloth. Perhaps it’s the fabric, linen, that’s most important. Linen was the fabric of priests and of rich people. It might have symbolized power, prestige, and pride. That would fit well with the rest of the story about the waistband, as we call it. For the people of power become slaves. On the other hand walking around in loincloth underwear would convey the idea of a slave, too.
The Hebrew word for the Euphrates River is pᵉrāt, the same word translated “Perath” or “Parah.” Many scholars say Parah was likely a village called Ain Farah, about four miles (6 km) north of Jeremiah’s hometown of Anathoth. The Euphrates River was about 350 miles (560 km) north of Anathoth.
Some scholars say Jeremiah may have been using a familiar proverb to make his point.
This is a guess. It’s unclear what the drunkenness represents. Some scholars say God is going to fill the people with the wine of his wrath and break up the nation. But the effect of drunkenness is confusion and a stupor. That’s also the effect of an overwhelming force of invaders.
The idea seems more graphic—as in stark naked. It’s a bit like, “I’ll lift your dress and drop your drawers.” Jeremiah may have intended it as a metaphor but it worked literally as well.
The metaphor is about spiritual unfaithfulness, at least. But it might be more than that. Some religions apparently involved sex with temple priests and prostitutes. “You have sex on the hilltops. Then you finish with a sacrifice” (Isaiah 57:7). That’s likely a euphemistic way of talking about fertility rituals that try to invoke Canaanite gods to provide fertility in family, fields, and flocks. Throughout the early centuries, Jews were constantly tempted to think of the LORD as the god of war with local Canaanite gods in charge of other aspects of life, such as farming and baby-making.
Discussion Questions
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