Episode 190: Jeremiah's underwear

Jeremiah 9-13

I wish my head were filled with water

9 ¹ I wish my head were filled with water, so I could cry all night for all people who will be killed.

² I'd like to go into the wilderness to hide from all the adulterers and treacherous men.

³ They're all evil liars who don't know me.

⁴ So don't trust anyone. Not even your family, friends, or neighbors.

A den of dragons

¹¹ God said,

I'll make Jerusalem a den of dragons. And kill everyone in the cities of Judah.

Like dung on the ground

¹⁵ I'll feed them with wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink.

¹⁶ Then I'll kill them all with the sword.

²² Dead bodies will fall like dung on the ground. No one will gather them.

Uncircumcised hearts

²⁵ The day is coming when I'll punish the circumcised with the uncircumcised.

²⁶ Because everyone in Israel has an uncircumcised heart.

Learn not the way of the heathen

10 ² Don't learn the way of the heathens and don't worry about the signs in the sky.

^3-4 They cut down a tree from the forest and decorate it with silver and gold.

⁵ Their gods can't walk or speak. Don't be afraid of them. They can't hurt or help you.

¹⁰ Our god is the true god. When God gets angry the whole earth shakes.

¹¹ The other gods will die someday.

²² There's a noise from the north country. Soon the cities of Judah will be a den of dragons.

²³ Humans can't control their own lives. They don't have free will.

²⁵ Oh God, pour out your fury on the heathens, and on families that don't call on your name.

I will bring evil upon them

11 ³ Whoever doesn't obey me is cursed

⁹ There's a conspiracy among the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ They have gone after other gods.

¹¹ So I will bring evil on them, which they won't be able to escape. And though they cry to me, I won't hear them.

¹² Then the people will go cry to their gods, but they won't save them.

Don't pray for these people

¹⁴ So don't pray for these people. I won't hear them in their time of trouble.

¹⁵ What should I do when my beloved does lewd things with other gods, when holy flesh is passed around?

¹⁶ Judah is like a green olive tree that God has lit on fire while breaking its branches.

¹⁷ The God that planted you is going to do evil to you.

Let me see your vengeance on them

¹⁹ Jeremiah said,

The people of Anathoth plan to kill me.

²⁰ Oh God, who tries the kidneys and heart, let me see the vengeance you have planned against them for planning to kill me.

²² God said, "I'll punish them by killing their young men with the sword and the others with famine. I'll kill them all. Not one will survive."

The sword of the LORD shall devour

12 ¹ Jeremiah said to God,

Why do wicked people prosper?

³ You should kill them all.

⁷ God said,

I used to love Israel dearly. But now I've given her to her enemies.

⁸ She has cried out against me. So I hate her.

⁹ I'll send some beasts and birds to eat her.

¹² My sword will kill from one end of the land to the other. No one will be safe.

¹⁶ If they someday swear to me instead of Baal, I'll forgive them.

¹⁷ But if they refuse to obey me, I'll kill them all.

Jeremiah's underwear

13 ¹ God said to Jeremiah,

Buy a linen girdle and put it on your loins.

⁴ Go to the Euphrates River and hide it in a hole in a rock.

⁵ So I that's what I did.

⁶ Many days later, God said to me, "Go get the girdle that you hid."

⁷ So I went to the Euphrates and retrieved the girdle. But the girdle was ruined, and was good for nothing.

⁸ Then God said to me,

⁹ In the same way, I'll ruin the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ For they refuse to hear my words, they do whatever they want, and they worship other gods. So they'll be like this girdle, which is good for nothing.

¹¹ Just like your girdle was close to your loins, so the people of Israel and Judah were close to me. But they wouldn't listen.

I will dash them one against another

¹² God said to me,

Say this to the people,

Fill every bottle with wine.

¹³ I'm going to make all of you drunk.

¹⁴ Then I'll smash one of you against another, parents and children together. I won't pity, spare, or have mercy, but will destroy you all.

I'll discover your skirts on your face

²² Do you know why your skirts were discovered, and your heels exposed?

²³ Can Ethiopians change their skin or a leopard it spots?

Neither can you change your evil ways.

²⁶ So I'll discover your skirts on your face, to shame you.

²⁷ For I've seen your adulteries, neighing, your lewd whoredoms and abominations in the hills.