131 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
131 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
Jeremiah's Linen Loincloth
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# Chapter 13
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1. This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it."
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2. So I bought the loincloth as the LORD directed me, and I put it on.
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3. Then the LORD gave me another message:
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4. "Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks."
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5. So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the LORD had instructed me.
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6. A long time afterward the LORD said to me, "Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there."
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7. So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing.
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8. Then I received this message from the LORD:
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9. "This is what the LORD says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.
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10. These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth--good for nothing!
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11. As a loincloth clings to a man's waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the LORD. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory--an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.
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12. "So tell them, 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: May all your jars be filled with wine.' And they will reply, 'Of course! Jars are made to be filled with wine!'
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13. "Then tell them, 'No, this is what the LORD means: I will fill everyone in this land with drunkenness--from the king sitting on David's throne to the priests and the prophets, right down to the common people of Jerusalem.
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14. I will smash them against each other, even parents against children, says the LORD. I will not let my pity or mercy or compassion keep me from destroying them.'"
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A Warning against Pride
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15. Listen and pay attention!
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Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.
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16. Give glory to the LORD your God
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before it is too late.
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Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you,
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causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains.
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For then, when you look for light,
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you will find only terrible darkness and gloom.
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17. And if you still refuse to listen,
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I will weep alone because of your pride.
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My eyes will overflow with tears,
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because the LORD's flock will be led away into exile.
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18. Say to the king and his mother,
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"Come down from your thrones
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and sit in the dust,
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for your glorious crowns
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will soon be snatched from your heads."
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19. The towns of the Negev will close their gates,
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and no one will be able to open them.
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The people of Judah will be taken away as captives.
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All will be carried into exile.
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20. Open up your eyes and see
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the armies marching down from the north!
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Where is your flock--
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your beautiful flock--
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that he gave you to care for?
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21. What will you say when the LORD takes the allies you have cultivated
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and appoints them as your rulers?
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Pangs of anguish will grip you,
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like those of a woman in labor!
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22. You may ask yourself,
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"Why is all this happening to me?"
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It is because of your many sins!
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That is why you have been stripped
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and raped by invading armies.
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23. Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin?
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Can a leopard take away its spots?
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Neither can you start doing good,
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for you have always done evil.
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24. "I will scatter you like chaff
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that is blown away by the desert winds.
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25. This is your allotment,
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the portion I have assigned to you,"
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says the LORD,
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"for you have forgotten me,
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putting your trust in false gods.
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26. I myself will strip you
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and expose you to shame.
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27. I have seen your adultery and lust,
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and your disgusting idol worship out in the fields and on the hills.
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What sorrow awaits you, Jerusalem!
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How long before you are pure?"
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