Jeremiah’s symbolic acts

¹The LORD proclaimed to me: Go and buy a linen undergarment. Wear it for a while without washing it.

²So I bought a linen undergarment, as the LORD told me, and I put it on.

³The LORD spoke to me again:

⁴Take the undergarment that you are wearing and go at once to the Euphrates and put it under a rock.

⁵So I went and buried it at the Euphrates, as the LORD instructed.[#13.5 Heb Perath]

⁶After a long time, the LORD said to me: Return to the Euphrates and dig up the undergarment that I commanded you to bury there.

⁷So I went to the Euphrates and I dug up the linen undergarment from the place I had buried it. But it was ruined and good for nothing.

⁸Then the LORD ’s word came to me:

⁹The LORD proclaims: In the same way I will ruin the brazen pride of Judah and Jerusalem!

¹⁰Instead of listening to me, this wicked people follow their own willful hearts and pursue other gods, worshipping and serving them. They will become like this linen garment—good for nothing!

¹¹Just as a linen undergarment clings to the body, so I created the people of Israel and Judah to cling to me, declares the LORD , to be my people for my honor, praise, and grandeur. But they wouldn’t obey.

¹²So deliver this word to them: The LORD the God of Israel proclaims: Every wine jug should be filled with wine. And they will answer you, “Don’t we already know that? Obviously every wine jug should be filled with wine!”

¹³Then you should say to them: The LORD proclaims: I’m going to fill everyone who lives in this country with wine that makes them drunk, including the kings on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those living in Jerusalem.

¹⁴And I will shatter every one of them, even parents and children, declares the LORD . I won’t take pity; I won’t have compassion; I will show no mercy when I destroy them.

¹⁵Listen closely, don’t be arrogant,

for the LORD has spoken.

¹⁶Honor the LORD your God,

before it’s too late,

before you stumble

Then you will hope for light,

only to find darkness and gloom.

¹⁷If you are too proud to listen,

I will go off alone

I will weep uncontrollably

because the LORD ’s flock

will be dragged off into exile.

¹⁸Tell the king and the queen mother:

Come down from your lofty place,

¹⁹The towns of the arid southern plain will be surrounded;

no one will get in or out;

²⁰Lift up your eyes

and see who is approaching from the north.

Where is the flock entrusted to you,

your beautiful flock?

²¹What will you say when he appoints someone as head over you:

your defenders, your trusted allies?

Won’t pain grip you

like that of a woman in labor?

²²And when you ask yourself,

Why have all these things happened to me?

²³Can a Cushite change his skin

or a leopard its spots?

Neither can you do good

when doing evil comes so naturally.

²⁴So I will scatter you like straw[#13.24 Or them]

that is blown away by the desert winds.

²⁵This is the future

that I have prepared for you,

because you have forgotten me

²⁶I myself will pull up your skirt over your face

and expose your shame.

²⁷I have seen your adultery and lust,

your disgusting idols and shameless prostitution

How terrible for you, Jerusalem!

How long will you remain dirty?