13:1A linen loincloth was one of the more intimate pieces of clothing, clinging close to the body. It was like underwear. Jeremiah’s action showed how God would ruin Judah just as Jeremiah had ruined the linen loincloth.
Life Application Study BibleJeremiahChapter 13
Jeremiah 13
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1226, 1227
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
13Jeremiah 13
Jeremiah’s Linen Loincloth
1This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.”2So I bought the loincloth as the LORD directed me, and I put it on. 3Then the LORD gave me another message: 4” Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River.* Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.” 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the LORD had instructed me. 6A long time afterward the LORD said to me, “Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.” 7So 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. 8Then I received this message from the LORD: 9“ This is what the LORD says: This shows how 1 will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. 10These 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! 11As 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. 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!’ 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. ‘41 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.’”
A Warning against Pride
1518 Listen and pay attention!Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.
16Give glory to the LORD your Godbefore it is too late.Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you,causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains.For then, when you look for light,you will find only terrible darkness and gloom.
17And if you still refuse to listen,I will weep alone because of your pride.My eyes will overflow with tears,because the LORD’s flock will be led away into exile.
18Say to the king and his mother,“Come down from your thronesand sit in the dust,for your glorious crownswill soon be snatched from your heads.”
19The towns of the Negev will close their gates,and no one will be able to open them.The people of Judah will be taken away as captives.All will be carried into exile.
20Open up your eyes and seethe armies marching down from the north!Where is your flock—your beautiful flock—that he gave you to care for?
21What will you say when the LORD takes the allies you have cultivatedand appoints them as your rulers?Pangs of anguish will grip you,like those of a woman in labor!
22You may ask yourself,“Why is all this happening to me?”It is because of your many sins!That is why you have been strippedand raped by invading armies.
23Can an Ethiopian* change the color of his skin?Can a leopard take away its spots?Neither can you start doing good,for you have always done evil.
24“T will scatter you like chaffthat is blown away by the desert winds.
25This is your allotment,the portion I have assigned to you,”says the LORD,“for you have forgotten me,putting your trust in false gods.
26I myself will strip youand expose you to shame.
27Thave seen your adultery and lust,and your disgusting idol worship out in the fields and on the hills.What sorrow awaits you, Jerusalem!How long before you are pure?”
Textual footnotes
- 13:4 Hebrew Perath; also in 13:5, 6, 7.
- 13:23 Hebrew a Cushite.
Life Application Notes 6 notes
13:1-11Actions speak louder than words. Jeremiah often used vivid object lessons to arouse the people’s curiosity and get his point across. This lesson of the linen loincloth illustrated Judah's destiny. Although the people had once been close to God, their pride had made them useless. Proud people may took important, but God says their pride makes them good for nothing, completely useless. Pride rots our hearts until we lose our usefulness to God.
13:15While it is good to respect our country and our church, our loyalties always carry a hidden danger—arrogance. When is pride harmful? When it causes us to (1) look down on others; (2) be selfish with our resources; (3) force our solutions on others’ problems; (4) think God is blessing us because of our own merits; (5) be content with our plans rather than seeking God’s plans.
13:18The king was Jehoiachin, and the his mother was Nehushta. The king’s father, Jehoiakim, had surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar but later rebelled. During Jehoiachin’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar’s armies besieged Jerusalem, and both Jehoiachin and Nehushta surrendered. Jehoiachin was sent to Babylon and imprisoned (2 Kings 24:1-15). Jeremiah’s prophecy came true.
13:19The Negev region is the dry wasteland stretching south from Beersheba. The towns in this area would be closed to any refugees fleeing the invading army.
13:23Not even the threat of captivity could move the people to repent. The people had become so accustomed to doing evil that they had lost their ability to change. God never rejects those who sincerely turn to him. God was warning them to repent before it became impossible to change. We must never put off until tomorrow those changes God wants us to make. Our attitudes and patterns for living can become so set that we will lose all desire to change and will no longer fear the consequences.