“Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.”
Parallel translations
- WEB “Take the belt that you have bought, which is on your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.”
- KJV Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
- BSB “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.”
- NKJV “Take the sash that you acquired, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.”
- NASB “Take the undergarment that you bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God tells Jeremiah to take the belt to the Euphrates and hide it in a cleft of the rock.
Overview
The destination, likely the distant Euphrates, points toward Babylon, the place of coming exile. Hiding the belt away from its owner pictures Judah's removal from God's presence and care. The action prefigures the captivity that the nation's sin will bring upon it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Mic 4:10Be in pain, and labor to give birth, daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now you will go out of the city, and will dwell in the field, and will come even to Babylon. There you will be rescued. There Yahweh will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.
- Jer 51:63–64It shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates.
- Ps 137:1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 13:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.