The Linen Belt

1Thus saith the Lord, Go and procure for thyself a linen girdle, and put it about thy loins, and let it not be put in water. 2So I procured the girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it about my loins. 3And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 4Take the girdle that is upon thy loins, and arise, and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. 5So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take thence the girdle, which I commanded thee to hide there. 7So I went to the river Euphrates, and dug, and took the girdle out of the place where I had buried it: and, behold, it was rotten, utterly good for nothing.

8And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, 9Thus will I mar the pride of Juda, and the pride of Jerusalem; 10even this great pride of the men that will not hearken to my words, and have gone after strange gods, to serve them, and to worship them: and they shall be as this girdle, which can be used for nothing. 11For as a girdle cleaves about the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave to myself the house of Israel, and the whole house of Juda; that they might be to me a famous people, and a praise, and a glory: but they did not hearken to me.

The Wineskins

12And thou shalt say to this people, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and it shall come to pass, if they shall say to thee, Shall we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? that thou shalt say to them, 13Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill the inhabitants of this land, and their kings the sons of David that sit upon their throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and Juda and all the dwellers in Jerusalem, with strong drink. 14And I will scatter them a man and his brother, and their fathers and their sons together: I will not have compassion, saith the Lord, and I will not spare, neither will I pity to save them from destruction.

Captivity Threatened

15Hear ye, and give ear, and be not proud: for the Lord has spoken.

16Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and ye shall wait for light, and behold the shadow of death, and they shall be brought into darkness.

17But if ye will not hearken, your soul shall weep in secret because of pride, and your eyes shall pour down tears, because the Lord's flock is sorely bruised.

18Say ye to the king and the princes, Humble yourselves, and sit down; for your crown of glory is removed from your head.

19The cities toward the south were shut, and there was none to open them: Juda is removed into captivity,they have suffered a complete removal.

20Lift up thine eyes, O Jerusalem, and behold them that come from the north; where is the flock that was given thee, the sheep of thy glory?

21What wilt thou say when they shall visit thee, for thou didst teach them lessons for rule against thyself; shall not pangs seize thee as a woman in travail?

22And if thou shouldest say in thine heart, Wherefore have these things happened to me? Because of the abundance of thine iniquity have thy skirts been discovered, that thine heels might be exposed.

23If the Ethiopian shall change his skin, or the leopardess her spots, then shall ye be able to do good, having learnt evil.

24So I scattered them as sticks carried by the wind into the wilderness.

25Thus is thy lot, and the reward of your disobedience to me, saith the Lord; as thou didst forget me, and trust in lies,

26I also will expose thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall be seen;

27thine adultery also, and thy neighing, and the looseness of thy fornication: on the hills and in the fields I have seen thine abominations. Woe to thee, O Jerusalem, for thou hast not been purified so as to follow me; how long yet shall it be?