Jeremiah 13:23

Sin Repentance

²¹ What 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?

²² And 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.

Can 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.

²⁵ This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.

Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good— you who are accustomed to doing evil.
KJV: Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
WEB: Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
ASV: Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
DARBY: Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? [Then] may ye also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
BLB: Can the Cushite change his skin, or the leopard its spots? Are you⁺ also able do good—[you] who are accustomed to doing evil.

ÅB: Kan en morian omskifte sin hud, eller en leopard sine flekker? - Da kan også dere gjøre godt, dere som er vant til å gjøre ondt.
OTB: Er det mulig for en etiopier å forandre sin hud eller en leopard sine flekker? På samme måte kan ikke dere som er vant til å gjøre ondt gjøre godt.
B1930: Kan en morian omskifte sin hud, eller en leopard sine flekker? - Da kan også I gjøre godt, I som er vant til å gjøre ondt.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Jeremiah 2:22
Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.
Read in context
Jeremiah 9:5
Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
Read in context
Matthew 19:24–28
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Read in context
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Read in context
Jeremiah 5:3
O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
Read in context
Jeremiah 2:30
“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”
Read in context
Isaiah 1:5
Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
Read in context
Jeremiah 6:29–30
The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.
Read in context