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Jeremiah 13

Jeremiah 13 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Jeremiah 13 uses vivid signs to show how far Judah has drifted from the LORD. The chapter warns that pride, stubbornness, and false trust will bring shame and exile. It also calls the people to listen, give glory to God, and turn before darkness falls.

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What happens in Jeremiah 13?

The chapter begins with Jeremiah acting out a sign with a linen loincloth, first wearing it and then hiding it until it is ruined. The LORD explains that this pictured Judah and Jerusalem, a people meant to cling to Him but now made useless by disobedience and idol worship. A second sign about wineskins pictures overflowing judgment: leaders and people alike will be brought low. The rest of the chapter warns of captivity, loss of honor, and coming shame. Jeremiah grieves over the nation's pride and exposes the deep corruption behind their exile.

Jeremiah 13 belongs to the section where the prophet uses signs and direct warnings to confront Judah. It follows earlier calls to repentance and moves the message toward clearer judgment. The chapter deepens the book's themes of covenant unfaithfulness, pride, and the certainty of exile if the people refuse to listen.

Themes to notice

  • Pride and stubbornnessJudah's refusal to listen is shown as a deep-hearted resistance that leads to ruin.
  • Judgment and exileThe ruined cloth and shattered wineskins picture the loss, captivity, and shame that are coming.
  • Call to returnEven in warning, the chapter urges the people to hear God, honor Him, and turn before darkness overtakes them.

Questions for Jeremiah 13

  • What does the ruined linen loincloth teach about Judah's relationship with the LORD?
  • Why does the chapter connect pride, idolatry, and coming judgment?
  • What does Jeremiah 13 say about the cost of refusing to listen to God?

Read the full text of Jeremiah 13 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Jeremiah 13

The Linen Loincloth

1This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”

2So I bought a loincloth as the LORD had instructed me, and I put it around my waist.

3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:4“Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to Perath and hide it there in a crevice of the rocks.”

5So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD had commanded me.

6Many days later the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.”

7So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all.

8Then the word of the LORD came to me:9“This is what the LORD says: In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.10These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.11For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I have made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me, declares the LORD, so that they might be My people for My renown and praise and glory. But they did not listen.

The Wineskins

12Therefore you are to tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every wineskin shall be filled with wine.’ And when they reply, ‘Don’t we surely know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’13then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem.14I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”

Captivity Threatened

15Listen and give heed. Do not be arrogant,

for the LORD has spoken.

16Give glory to the LORD your God

before He brings darkness,

before your feet stumble

on the dusky mountains.

You wait for light,

but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

17But if you do not listen,

I will weep in secret because of your pride.

My eyes will overflow with tears,

because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

18Say to the king

and to the queen mother:

“Take a lowly seat,

for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”

19The cities of the Negev have been shut tight,

and no one can open them.

All Judah has been carried into exile,

wholly taken captive.

20Lift up your eyes and see

those coming from the north.

Where is the flock entrusted to you,

the sheep that were your pride?

21What will you say when He sets over you

close allies whom you yourself trained?

Will not pangs of anguish grip you,

as they do a woman in labor?

22And if you ask yourself,

“Why has this happened to me?”

It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity

that your skirts have been stripped off

and your body has been exposed.

23Can the Ethiopian change his skin,

or the leopard his spots?

Neither are you able to do good—

you who are accustomed to doing evil.

24“I will scatter you like chaff

driven by the desert wind.

25This is your lot,

the portion I have measured to you,”

declares the LORD,

“because you have forgotten Me

and trusted in falsehood.

26So I will pull your skirts up over your face,

that your shame may be seen.

27Your adulteries and lustful neighings,

your shameless prostitution

on the hills and in the fields—

I have seen your detestable acts.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

How long will you remain unclean?”

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