Jeremiah 13:22

"And if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore are these things come upon me? for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered and thy heels suffer violence. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passeth away, by the wind of the wilderness."

"For the greatness of thine iniquity ..." (Jeremiah 13:22). This is God's blunt answer to the question of why? all these things happened to Israel.

"Thy skirts uncovered ..." (Jeremiah 13:22). See under Jeremiah 13:26. below, for comment on this.

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ..." (Jeremiah 13:23)? A negative answer is required for both of these questions; and the meaning is simply that it is too late for Israel to change her ways. She has persistently wallowed in sin such a long time that there is no longer any hope of her changing. Such a condition came about because of (1) the deliberate rebellion of Israel against her God, and (2) the consequent judicial hardening of the apostate nation so frequently mentioned in Isaiah (See Isaiah 6:9,10, etc).