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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 13
Israel and Judah shall be as a rotted and decayed girdle—Repentance
enjoined—Judah shall be taken captive and scattered as stubble.
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1 THUS saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
4 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.
5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
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6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
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8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the
apride of Judah, and the great pride of
Jerusalema.
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9a the great pride of Jerusalem
Wherein did lie this 'great pride' of Judah? Was it not that of all the tribes
of Jacob but Judah did remain? As stated in Judah's self prescribed and
self written history of 1 Chronicles 5:2 (2 Chronicles 13:18),
"For Judah prevailed above his
brethern, and of him came the chief ruler [the Messiah]; but the
birthright was Joseph's". And even perhaps a better translation would
be rather than 'but', to have stated 'even though the birthright
was Joseph's'. Judah had long envied Joseph and that he, Joseph, and his sons
did obtain the covenant birthright of the 'Firstborn'. Judah had plotted to
kill Joseph that he might obtain it as Rueben had lost it and even Simeon and
Levi did also, and thus Judah felt that it ought to have fallen to him. Not
even Rueben could think to do such to his brother Joseph and only through the
intervention of Rueben did Judah resolve to sell Joseph into slavery as he
could no longer 'prevail' in his murderous plans to rid himself of the hier
of the covenant. Then again when the Kingdom of Israel was taken captive and
only the Kingdom of Judah did remain, again did Judah consider that they had
prevailed, that is in self pride they did usurp and defer to themselves all the
covenant blessing of Jacob 'even though' they had been first given to Joseph.
But in this did Judah error in their rewriting of God's history for even
Jeremiah, the prophet of Judah's doom did but state that it was Ephraim who
was the 'Firstborn' and heir (see Jeremiah 31:9 and D&C 27:10), and it was
Joseph through Ephraim who had, did and would always 'prevail', that is
'remain', in that Birthright of the Covenant, even the Covenant of Abraham and of all the Fathers before him, which included the God
given right to the ancestry of the Messiah (see
Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph).
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10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words,
which walk in the aimagination of their heart, and
bwalk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them,
shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man,
so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole
house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and
for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not
ahear.
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12 ¶ Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the
LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings
that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, with adrunkenness.
14 And I will dash them one against another, even the
fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare,
nor have mercy, but adestroy them.
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15 ¶ Hear ye, and give ear; be not
aproud: for the LORD hath spoken.
16 Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause
adarkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark
mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death,
and make it gross darkness.
17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in
secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run
down with tears, because the LORD's aflock is carried away
captive.
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18 Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none
shall open them: Judah shall be acarried away
captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
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22 ¶ And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore
come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy
askirts bdiscovered, and thy heels
made bare.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard
his spots? then may ye also do agood, that are
accustomed to do evil.
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24 Therefore will I ascatter them
as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
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26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings,
the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine
aabominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O
Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made bclean? when shall
it once be?
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