JOIN THE JOURNEY JR.

Jeremiah 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 I 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.

A Warning against Pride

15Listen and pay attention!

Do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.

16Give glory to the Lord your God

before 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.