Jeremiah Chapter 13
Showing all 27 verses for Jeremiah Chapter 13.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. "
"This is what the LORD said to me: Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth, put it on, and don't wash it."
Sometimes truth needs to be lived out, not just spoken about. I want your life itself - your actions, not just your words - to demonstrate what you believe.
"So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins. "
"So I bought the loincloth as the LORD instructed, and put it on."
Sometimes I ask you to take a step of faith before you fully understand why. I want you trusting the process even when the full picture isn't yet visible to you.
"And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, "
"Then the LORD's word came to me a second time, saying:"
I often work with you gradually, stage by stage, rather than revealing everything at once. Stay attentive through the whole process, not just at the start.
"Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. "
"Take the loincloth you're wearing, get up, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks."
I sometimes ask more of you than feels convenient or explicable in the moment. Trust that the specific, sometimes strange instructions matter even when the destination or purpose isn't yet obvious.
"So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. "
"So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, exactly as the LORD told me to."
I notice the obedience you offer even when it costs you real time and effort, especially when you can't yet see the point of it.
"And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. "
"Then, after a long time had passed, the LORD said to me: get up, go to the Euphrates, and retrieve the loincloth you hid there."
Some consequences take time to fully develop - I want you to be patient enough to see the whole process through, not just the beginning or middle of it.
"Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. "
"So I went to the Euphrates, dug it up, and took the loincloth from where I'd hidden it - and look, it was ruined, completely useless."
Anything precious - a relationship, a gift, a calling - can be ruined through neglect, even without dramatic destruction. I want you tending to what matters, not just assuming it will stay intact on its own.
"Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, "
"Then the LORD's word came to me, saying:"
I want you to reflect on what you experience, not just move past it - take time to let the meaning of what's happened to you actually sink in.
"Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. "
"This is what the LORD says: this is exactly how I am going to ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem."
I want you to hold your confidence loosely if it's rooted in status or reputation rather than in something real and lasting. Pride built on appearances collapses; character doesn't.
"This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. "
"This wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow their own stubborn impulses and chase after other gods to serve and worship them, will end up just like this loincloth - completely useless."
Staying close to what's genuinely good for you - honest relationships, real integrity - is what keeps you from becoming hollow over time. Drift far enough from that, and something in you does start to spoil, even if it isn't obvious at first.
"For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. "
"Because just as a loincloth clings close to a man's body, I made the whole house of Israel and Judah cling closely to me, says the LORD - meant to be my own people, bringing me honour, praise and glory. But they refused to listen."
I don't want distance between us - I want the kind of closeness this image describes, as near as the clothes on your body. If you've drifted from that, know the invitation back to genuine closeness is still there.
"Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? "
"So say this to them: this is what the LORD, Israel's God, says - every wine-jar will be filled with wine. And they'll reply, 'Of course we know that - everyone knows wine-jars get filled with wine.'"
Be careful about assuming you already understand something fully before really listening to where it's going. Genuine humility keeps you open to insight you might otherwise dismiss too quickly.
"Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. "
"Then tell them: this is what the LORD says - I am going to fill everyone in this land with drunkenness - the kings sitting on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and everyone living in Jerusalem."
When everything around you is falling apart, I want you to stay clear-headed rather than adding to the confusion. Being a steady presence in chaos is one of the most valuable things you can offer.
"And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them. "
"And I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike, says the LORD - I will show no pity, no mercy, but will destroy them."
I don't sugar-coat the real weight of persistent, unaddressed wrongdoing. But I also want you to know that even the harshest warnings exist because I'd rather you turn back now than face them later.
"Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken. "
"Listen, pay attention - don't let pride get in the way, because the LORD has spoken."
The biggest barrier to real change is often pride - the refusal to admit you might need to listen and adjust. I want you humble enough to actually hear hard truths rather than deflecting them.
"Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. "
"Honour the LORD your God now, before he brings darkness, before you stumble on the mountains in the dusk, and before the light you're hoping for turns instead into deep darkness, thick as death."
Don't wait for the crisis to hit before you take stock of your life honestly. There's real value in responding to a warning while there's still time to change course, rather than only reacting once the worst has already happened.
"But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock is carried away captive. "
"But if you won't listen, I will weep in private over your pride; my eyes will pour out tears, because the LORD's own flock is being led away into captivity."
Caring about someone doesn't always mean sparing them hard truths - sometimes real love means telling the truth and grieving the consequences alongside them. I want you to hold both honesty and genuine compassion together, the way Jeremiah does here.
"Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory. "
"Tell the king and the queen mother: humble yourselves, sit down low - because your positions of power are coming down, and your glorious crown along with them."
However much status or power you hold, I want you to remember it's not permanent, and it was never meant to be the true source of your worth. Hold positions of authority with humility, because they can change quickly.
"The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive. "
"The towns in the south will be shut tight, with no one to open them; all of Judah will be taken captive - completely, entirely carried off."
I want you to face the full scope of hard realities honestly rather than minimising them as smaller than they really are. Real healing starts with an accurate view of what's actually happened, not a softened version of it.
"Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? "
"Look up and see them coming from the north - where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful flock?"
I sometimes ask you hard, direct questions about what's become of what was entrusted to you - not to shame you, but to help you face reality honestly enough to actually change.
"What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail? "
"What will you say when he punishes you? You yourself trained them to be your rulers, put in charge over you - won't pain grip you like a woman in labour?"
Be thoughtful about who or what you give power over your life, because those choices can shape your future in ways you don't fully see at the time. What you cultivate now, you may find yourself living under later.
"And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare. "
"And if you ask yourself, 'Why is this happening to me?' - it's because of the extent of your wrongdoing that your skirts have been pulled up and your legs exposed."
If you're asking 'why is this happening to me,' I want you to have the courage to look honestly at the real causes first, rather than assuming you're simply an innocent victim of circumstance. Honest self-examination, however uncomfortable, is where real change begins.
"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. "
"Can a person from Ethiopia change the colour of their skin, or a leopard change its spots? Then maybe you too, who are so used to doing evil, could actually start doing good."
I know that deeply ingrained habits can feel impossible to break through sheer willpower alone. That's exactly why real change isn't about trying harder in your own strength - it's about a genuine transformation from within, which is always possible even when it looks impossible from the outside.
"Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. "
"So I will scatter them like dry chaff blown away by the desert wind."
I want you rooted in something substantial enough that you're not simply blown around by whatever pressure or circumstance comes along. Real depth of character is what keeps you grounded when the wind picks up.
"This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood. "
"This is your fate, the outcome measured out to you by me, says the LORD - because you forgot me and put your trust in lies instead."
Notice gradually, quietly, what you're actually placing your trust in day to day - it's easy to drift from what's real towards what's comfortable or convenient without ever making a dramatic decision to do so.
"Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear. "
"So I will pull your skirts up over your face, so your shame will be plain to see."
I don't delight in anyone's shame, but I do want you to understand that hidden patterns eventually tend to come into the light one way or another. It's better to face and address them honestly now, on your own terms, than to have them exposed later.
"I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be? "
"I have seen your unfaithfulness, your lustful cries, the shamelessness of your prostitution, and your detestable practices on the hills and in the fields. How terrible for you, Jerusalem! Will you ever be made clean? How long will this go on?"
I never close the door on the possibility of real change, however long the pattern has gone on or however far someone has drifted. The question 'will you ever be made clean' isn't rhetorical despair - it's a genuine, standing invitation that remains open.