Jeremiah 11, 12, 13

And then, there was Jeremiah 11
The Lord announces that He will not listen to those who now cry out for His help, because they once chose not to obey His Word. They were once His chosen people, but no longer:

¹⁶ The LORD called you a thriving olive tree
with fruit beautiful in form.
But with the roar of a mighty storm
he will set it on fire,
and its branches will be broken.

Jeremiah then hears word of a plot against him.

"Let us destroy the tree and its fruit;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
that his name be remembered no more."

Interesting, but not surprising.

Jeremiah 12
Jeremiah has questions for God, good questions:

¹ You are always righteous, O LORD ,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
² You have planted them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
³ Yet you know me, O LORD ;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!
⁴ How long will the land lie parched
and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying,
"He will not see what happens to us."

Jeremiah brings good questions. He hears God speaking of the death of those who sin against Him, but sees nothing. Sometimes we wonder how people got to where they are, money, fame, everything. Or so it seems. If they do not have the Lord, what good are these things? They can gain them nothing in terms of true satisfaction. One day these people will get their due, but it is not up to us to judge them. If they do not know God, then they will surely know His wrath, according to His plan.
God answers Jeremiah thus:

⁵ "If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?
⁶ Your brothers, your own family-
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.

⁷ "I will forsake my house,
abandon my inheritance;
I will give the one I love
into the hands of her enemies.
⁸ My inheritance has become to me
like a lion in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.
⁹ Has not my inheritance become to me
like a speckled bird of prey
that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
¹⁰ Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.
¹¹ It will be made a wasteland,
parched and desolate before me;
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
¹² Over all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword of the LORD will devour
from one end of the land to the other;
no one will be safe.
¹³ They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.
So bear the shame of your harvest
because of the LORD's fierce anger."

Jeremiah 13
The parable of the linen belt has Jeremiah buying a belt, burying it under rocks, then digging it up again many days later. The belt is useless.
God is like that belt. Tied to the waste of Juda, and necessary, but they have buried Him under the rocks of Sin. He is now worth nothing to them.

²⁴ "I will scatter you like chaff
driven by the desert wind.

This is a popular phrase, because it shows the utter destruction of the Land of Judah.