Jeremiah Chapter 13

At a Glance

  • Jeremiah 13 unfolds through two symbolic acts that dramatize Judah’s spiritual stubbornness and the consequences of idolatry.
  • The subsequent oracle intensifies: God will “cleave” to Israel to make them a people for his praise, but their resistance renders them unfit for his purposes.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • Jeremiah 13 belongs to a cluster of symbolic acts that Jeremiah uses to convey spiritual truths.
  • - Symbolic drama as a prophetic method: tangible objects illustrate spiritual realities.

Chapter Overview

Jeremiah 13 unfolds through two symbolic acts that dramatize Judah’s spiritual stubbornness and the consequences of idolatry. First, the prophet is instructed to buy a linen loincloth and not wash it, then to hide it by the Euphrates. After a period, the girdle is found to be marred, useless. This garment imagery symbolizes Israel and Judah’s covenant relationship with God: once tightly close to the Lord, now spoiled and ineffective. The Lord then compares the people to the girdle: intended to cling to God, they instead cling to pride, wealth, and idols. The marred girdle becomes a pointed critique of their hard-heartedness and the futility of their religious pretensions.

The subsequent oracle intensifies: God will “cleave” to Israel to make them a people for his praise, but their resistance renders them unfit for his purposes. The chapter’s prophecies turn from symbolic action to vivid judgment that includes drunkenness, upheaval in leadership, and the collapse of national dignity. The moral center remains consistent: the people’s refusal to hear leads to a stripping away of divine protection and blessing. Yet the chapter ends with the Lord’s summons to speak a word of warning to a stubborn audience, keeping the prophetic vocation alive even in the face of rejection.

Historical & Literary Context

Jeremiah 13 belongs to a cluster of symbolic acts that Jeremiah uses to convey spiritual truths. The linen girdle motif echoes ancient Near Eastern symbolic language about Israel’s relationship with God—clinging to the Lord but ultimately failing. The chapter sits in a section of Jeremiah that leverages vivid, tangible signs to shock the audience into recognizing their waywardness. The literary design emphasizes how God’s purposes persist despite human failure and how pride and idolatry corrode covenant faithfulness.

Key Themes

- Symbolic drama as a prophetic method: tangible objects illustrate spiritual realities.

- Covenant corruption and pride: a people once designed to reflect God’s glory now marred by self-sufficiency.

- The danger of spiritual self-reliance: outward closeness to God without true obedience is hollow.

- God’s persistent desire for relationship: even as judgment looms, there is a call to hear and respond.

- Consequences of unfaithfulness: the marred girdle becomes a sign of the impending disruption of blessing.

Modern Application

Jeremiah 13 challenges readers to examine where their faith is truly anchored. It asks us to consider whether we cling to God only in ceremonial ways while our hearts pursue pride, wealth, or status. The girdle’s decay warns against the alluring but dangerous idolatry of self-sufficiency. For modern readers, the chapter invites personal re-centering—refusing to rely on appearances, reputation, or religious show, and choosing authentic obedience that aligns with God’s heart.

Practical implications include practicing humility, resisting the pull of materialism, and prioritizing relational fidelity with God over social capital. The chapter also reinforces the seriousness with which God views hypocrisy and the need to align worship with daily living.

Cross-References: Jeremiah 7; Hosea 8; Ezekiel 16; Isaiah 1; Micah 6

Recommended Personas: Jeremiah; Jesus (cleansing of the temple as critique of hollow religiosity); Isaiah (calling and vision); Moses (covenant formation)

Chapter Text

1

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.

2

So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.

3

And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,

4

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.

5

So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.

6

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.

7

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.

8

Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

9

Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.

10

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.

11

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.

12

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?

13

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.

14

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.

15

Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

16

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.

17

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.

18

Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.

19

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.

20

Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?

21

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?

22

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.

23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

24

Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.

25

This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

26

Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.

27

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?

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