The Ruined Loincloth
1 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was aspoiled; it was good for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the bpride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who cstubbornly follow their own heart and have dgone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. 11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah ecling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, fa name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.
The Jars Filled with Wine
12 “You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’ 13 Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14 And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”
Exile Threatened
15 Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God
before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and while you glook for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it deep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with htears,
because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and the iqueen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for your beautiful crown
has come down from your head.”
19 The cities of the Negeb are shut up,
with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
wholly taken into exile.
20 “Lift up your eyes and see
those who come from the jnorth.
Where is the flock that was given you,
your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when they set as head over you
those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
Will not pangs take hold of you
like those of a woman in labor?
22 And if you say in your heart,
k‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
that lyour skirts are lifted up
and you suffer violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.
24 I will scatter you1 like chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.
25 This is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because you have mforgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26 I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen your abominations,
your adulteries and nneighings, your lewd whorings,
on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be before you are made clean?”
Famine, Sword, and Pestilence
1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 “Judah mourns,
and her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3 Her nobles send their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
they return with their vessels empty;
they are ashamed and confounded
and cover their heads.
4 Because of the ground that is dismayed,
since there is no rain on the land,
othe farmers are ashamed;
they cover their heads.
5 Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no vegetation.
7 “Though our iniquities ptestify against us,
act, O Lord, qfor your name’s sake;
for our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against you.
8 O you rhope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why should you be like a man confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet you, O Lord, are sin the midst of us,
and we are tcalled by your name;
do not leave us.”
10 Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore uthe Lord does not accept them;
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.”
11 The Lord said to me: v“Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 Though they fast, wI will not hear their cry, and xthough they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them yby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”
Lying Prophets
13 Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, z‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” 14 And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying alies in my name. bI did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit cof their own minds. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.
17 “You shall say to them this word:
‘Let my eyes run down with dtears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
with a very grievous blow.
18 If I go out into the field,
behold, those pierced by the sword!
And if I enter the city,
behold, the diseases of famine!
For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
and have no knowledge.’”
19 eHave you utterly rejected Judah?
Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
so that there is no healing for us?
fWe looked for peace, but no good came;
for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
20 We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
gand the iniquity of our fathers,
for we have sinned against you.
21 Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
hremember and do not break your covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
for you do all these things.
Book Five
Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So
1 Oh kgive thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let lthe redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has mredeemed from trouble1
3 and ngathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 Some owandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 pThen they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 qLet them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he rsatisfies the longing soul,
and sthe hungry soul he fills with good things.
10 Some tsat in udarkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the vcounsel of the Most High.
12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
they fell down, with wnone to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
16 For he xshatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.
17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18 they yloathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer zsacrifices of thanksgiving,
and atell of his deeds in songs of joy!
Life in the Spirit
1 There is therefore now no acondemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.1 2 For the blaw of the Spirit of life has set you2 cfree in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done dwhat the law, eweakened by the flesh, could not do. fBy sending his own Son gin the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,3 he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the hrighteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who iwalk jnot according to the flesh but kaccording to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh lset their minds on mthe things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on nthe things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 oFor the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God pdwells in you. Anyone who does not have the qSpirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is rin you, although the sbody is dead because of sin, the Spirit is tlife because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of uhim who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus4 from the dead will also vgive life to your mortal bodies wthrough his Spirit who dwells in you.
Heirs with Christ
12 So then, brothers,5 we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For xif you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you yput to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are zled by the Spirit of God are sons6 of God. 15 For you did anot receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of badoption as sons, by whom we cry, c“Abba! Father!” 16 dThe Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then eheirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, fprovided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Future Glory
18 For I consider that gthe sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with hthe glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For ithe creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that jthe creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits kof the Spirit, lgroan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this mhope we were saved. Now hope nthat is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself ointercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And phe who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because7 the Spirit intercedes for the saints qaccording to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who rlove God sall things work together for good,8 for those who are called according to his tpurpose. 29 For those whom he uforeknew he also vpredestined to be wconformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be xthe firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also ycalled, and those whom he called he also zjustified, and those whom he justified he also aglorified.
God’s Everlasting Love
31 bWhat then shall we say to these things? cIf God is for us, who can be9 against us? 32 dHe who edid not spare his own Son but gave him up for us fall, ghow will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 hWho shall bring any charge against God’s ielect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is jto condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—kwho is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.10 35 Who shall separate us from the llove of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
m“For your sake we are being killed nall the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than oconquerors through him who ploved us. 38 For I am sure that qneither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor rheight nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
