Jeremiah 13:1-14

Here is the command YAHWEH spoke to me: “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but don’t wash it.” So I obeyed YAHWEH’s command, and I bought the loincloth and wore it under my tunic. Then, YAHWEH spoke to me a second time: “Now, take the loincloth you bought and are wearing and go at once to Perath and cover it up there in a crevice of the rock.” So, I obeyed YAHWEH and went and buried it at Perath. Then, after a long time, YAHWEH spoke to me again, saying, “Go at once to Perath and dig up the loincloth that I commanded you to bury there.” So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth from where I had buried it, and I found it ruined. It was worthless. Then YAHWEH spoke these words to me: “Even so, like a soiled undergarment, I will ruin all the arrogant pride of Judah and Jerusalem, says YAHWEH. These evil ones refuse to hear my words, they stubbornly follow the inclinations of their own hearts, and they follow other gods to serve and worship them. So then, they will all become like this worthless, rotten undergarment. For as the loincloth clings snugly to the loins of a man, so I brought close to me all the people of Israel and Judah, says YAHWEH. I wanted them to cling to me as my people and bring honor to me and proclaim my glory. But they would not obey.” “Speak this word to them: ‘Here is what YAHWEH, the God of Israel says: Every wine jar should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Of course, everyone knows that wine jars should be filled with wine. Do you think we don’t know that?’ then answer them, ‘YAHWEH says: I am going to fill all the people of this land with a drunken stupor, including the kings of David’s descendants, the unfaithful priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, says YAHWEH. I will show no pity or compassion, and my mercy will not stop me from destroying them.’ ”