Bible Reading Plan – Day 200

₁The LORD told me to go and buy myself some linen shorts and to put them on; but he told me not to put them in water. ₂So I bought them and put them on. ₃Then the LORD spoke to me again, and said, ₄“Go to the River Euphrates and hide the shorts in a hole in the rocks.” ₅So I went and hid them near the Euphrates.

₆Some time later the LORD told me to go back to the Euphrates and get the shorts. ₇So I went back, and when I found the place where I had hidden them, I saw that they were ruined and were no longer any good.

₈Then the LORD spoke to me again. He said, ₉“This is how I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ₁₀These evil people have refused to obey me. They have been as stubborn and wicked as ever, and have worshipped and served other gods. So then, they will become like these shorts that are no longer any good. ₁₁Just as shorts fit tightly round the waist, so I intended all the people of Israel and Judah to hold tightly to me. I did this so that they would be my people and would bring praise and honour to my name; but they would not obey me.”

₁₂The LORD God said to me, “Jeremiah, tell the people of Israel that every wine jar should be filled with wine. They will answer that they know every wine jar should be filled with wine. ₁₃Then tell them that I, the LORD, am going to fill the people in this land with wine until they are drunk: the kings, who are David's descendants, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem. ₁₄Then I will smash them like jars against one another, old and young alike. No pity, compassion, or mercy will stop me from killing them.”

₁₈The LORD said to me, “Tell the king and his mother to come down from their thrones, because their beautiful crowns have fallen from their heads. ₁₉The towns of southern Judah are under siege; no one can get through to them. All the people of Judah have been taken away into exile.”

₂₀Jerusalem, look! Your enemies are coming down from the north! Where are the people entrusted to your care, your people you were so proud of? ₂₁What will you say when people you thought were your friends conquer you and rule over you? You will be in pain like a woman giving birth. ₂₂If you ask why all this has happened to you — why your clothes have been torn off and you have been raped — it is because your sin is so terrible. ₂₃Can a Nubian change the colour of his skin, or a leopard remove its spots? If they could, then you that do nothing but evil could learn to do what is right. ₂₄The LORD will scatter you like straw that is blown away by the desert wind. ₂₅He has said that this will be your fate. This is what he has decided to do with you, because you have forgotten him and have trusted in false gods. ₂₆The LORD himself will strip off your clothes and expose you to shame. ₂₇He has seen you do the things he hates. He has seen you go after pagan gods on the hills and in the fields, like a man lusting after his neighbour's wife or like a stallion after a mare. People of Jerusalem, you are doomed! When will you ever be pure?

₁The LORD said to me concerning the drought,

₁₀The LORD says about these people, “They love to run away from me, and they will not control themselves. So I am not pleased with them. I will remember the wrongs they have done and punish them because of their sins.”

₁₁The LORD said to me, “Do not ask me to help these people. ₁₂Even if they fast, I will not listen to their cry for help; and even if they offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not be pleased with them. Instead, I will kill them in war and by starvation and disease.”

₁₃Then I said, “Sovereign LORD, you know that the prophets are telling the people that there will be no war or starvation, because you have promised, they say, that there will be only peace in our land.”

₁₄But the LORD replied, “The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined. ₁₅I, the LORD, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land — I will kill them in war and by starvation. ₁₆The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them — including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness.”

₁₇The LORD commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say:

₁Then the LORD said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing here pleading with me, I would not show these people any mercy. Make them go away; make them get out of my sight. ₂When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said:

₅The LORD says,

₁₀What an unhappy man I am! Why did my mother bring me into the world? I have to quarrel and argue with everyone in the land. I have not lent any money or borrowed any; yet everyone curses me. ₁₁LORD, may all their curses come true if I have not served you well, if I have not pleaded with you on behalf of my enemies when they were in trouble and distress. ₁₂(No one can break iron, especially the iron from the north that is mixed with bronze.)

₁₃The LORD said to me, “I will send enemies to carry away the wealth and treasures of my people, in order to punish them for the sins they have committed throughout the land. ₁₄I will make them serve their enemies in a land they know nothing about, because my anger is like fire, and it will burn for ever.”

₁₅Then I said, “LORD, you understand. Remember me and help me. Let me have revenge on those who persecute me. Do not be so patient with them that they succeed in killing me. Remember that it is for your sake that I am insulted. ₁₆You spoke to me, and I listened to every word. I belong to you, LORD God Almighty, and so your words filled my heart with joy and happiness. ₁₇I did not spend my time with other people, laughing and having a good time. In obedience to your orders I stayed by myself and was filled with anger. ₁₈Why do I keep on suffering? Why are my wounds incurable? Why won't they heal? Do you intend to disappoint me like a stream that goes dry in the summer?”

₁₉To this the LORD replied, “If you return, I will take you back, and you will be my servant again. If instead of talking nonsense you proclaim a worthwhile message, you will be my prophet again. The people will come back to you, and you will not need to go to them. ₂₀I will make you like a solid bronze wall as far as they are concerned. They will fight against you, but they will not defeat you. I will be with you to protect you and keep you safe. ₂₁I will rescue you from the power of wicked and violent people. I, the LORD, have spoken.”