 1 Thus said the Lord to me, Go and buy a linen belt+ for yourself and put it on your waist+ and do not put it in water. 2 So I bought a belt+ according to the Word of the Lord and I put it on my waist+. 3 The Word of the Lord came to me a second time saying, 4 Take the belt+ that you bought, which is on your waist+ and arise. Go to Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock. 5 So I hid it by Euphrates as the Lord commanded me. 6 At the end of many days, the Lord said to me, Arise, go to Euphrates and take the belt+ from there, which I commanded you to hide there. 7 Then I went to Euphrates and dug, and took the belt+ from the place where I had hidden it. And, behold, the belt+ was rotted. It was not good for anything. 8 Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, 9 Thus says the Lord: In this way I will spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be like this belt+ that is good for nothing. 11 For as the belt+ holds fast to the waist+ of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to me, says the Lord. So that they might be to me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory. But they would not hear. 12 So you will speak to them this Word: Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Every skin shall be filled with wine. They will say to you, Do we not surely know that every skin will be filled with wine? 13 Then you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the people of this land, even the kings that sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. 14 I will smash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, to keep them from their destruction. 15 Hear and give ear. Do not be proud. For the Lord has spoken. 16 Give glory to the Lord your God, before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and, while you look for light, He turns it into the shadow of death, setting up deep gloom. 17 But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride. And my eye shall weep sore and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock was captured. 18 Say to the king and to the queen mother, Humble yourselves, sit down. For your greatness shall come down, even the crown of your glory. 19 The cities of the south have been shut up, and none are opening. judah has been exiled, all of it has been peacefully exiled. 20 Lift up your eyes and behold those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful flock? 21 What will you say when he comes to punish you? For you have taught them to be rulers over you for a head. Do not pangs seize you, like a woman in travail? 22 If you say in your heart, Why do these things come on me? It is because of the greatness of your iniquity. Your skirts are bared, and your heels suffer violence. 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard its spots? Then you also may do good, who are accustomed to doing evil. 24 I will scatter them as the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness. 25 This is your lot, the share I have measured to you, says the Lord, because you have forgotten me and trusted in falsehood. 26 So I also have stripped off your skirts over your face, that your shame may appear. 27 I have seen your adulteries, and your neighings, the wickedness of your fornication, and your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem. Will you not be made clean? How long will it still be?
|