| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” | 1The LORD said to me, "Go and buy some linen shorts and put them on. Do not put them in water." |
| 2So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. | 2So I bought the shorts as the LORD had told me to do and put them on. |
| 3And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, | 3Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, |
| 4“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” | 4"Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing and go at once to Perath. Bury the shorts there in a crack in the rocks." |
| 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. | 5So I went and buried them at Perath as the LORD had ordered me to do. |
| 6And after many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” | 6Many days later the LORD said to me, "Go at once to Perath and get the shorts I ordered you to bury there." |
| 7Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing. | 7So I went to Perath and dug up the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found that they were ruined; they were good for nothing. |
| 8Then the word of the LORD came to me: | 8Then the LORD said to me, |
| 9“Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. | 9"I, the LORD, say: 'This shows how I will ruin the highly exalted position in which Judah and Jerusalem take pride. |
| 10This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. | 10These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing. |
| 11For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen. | 11For,' I say, 'just as shorts cling tightly to a person's body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah tightly to me.' I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. But they would not obey me. |
| 12“You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’ | 12"So tell them, 'The LORD, the God of Israel, says, "Every wine jar is made to be filled with wine."' And they will probably say to you, 'Do you not think we know that every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine?' |
| 13Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. | 13Then tell them, 'The LORD says, "I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor. I will also fill the kings from David's dynasty, the priests, the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor. |
| 14And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’” | 14And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike. I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,' says the LORD." |
| 15Hear and give ear; be not proud, for the LORD has spoken. | 15Then I said to the people of Judah, "Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant! For the LORD has spoken. |
| 16Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness. | 16Show the LORD your God the respect that is due him. Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. Do it before you stumble into distress like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for into the darkness and gloom of exile. |
| 17But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive. | 17But if you will not pay attention to this warning, I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride. I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears because you, the LORD's flock, will be carried into exile." |
| 18Say to the king and the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.” | 18The LORD told me, "Tell the king and the queen mother, 'Surrender your thrones, for your glorious crowns will be removed from your heads. |
| 19The cities of the Negeb are shut up, with none to open them; all Judah is taken into exile, wholly taken into exile. | 19The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight. No one will be able to go in or out of them. All Judah will be carried off into exile. They will be completely carried off into exile.'" |
| 20“Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock? | 20Then I said, "Look up, Jerusalem, and see the enemy that is coming from the north. Where now is the flock of people that were entrusted to your care? Where now are the 'sheep' that you take such pride in? |
| 21What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you like those of a woman in labor? | 21What will you say when the LORD appoints as rulers over you those allies that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? Then anguish and agony will grip you like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. |
| 22And if you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things come upon me?’ it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up and you suffer violence. | 22You will probably ask yourself, 'Why have these things happened to me? Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteress whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?' It is because you have sinned so much. |
| 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil. | 23But there is little hope for you ever doing good, you who are so accustomed to doing evil. Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard remove its spots? |
| 24I will scatter you like chaff driven by the wind from the desert. | 24"The LORD says, 'That is why I will scatter your people like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind. |
| 25This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, declares the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies. | 25This is your fate, the destiny to which I have appointed you, because you have forgotten me and have trusted in false gods. |
| 26I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen. | 26So I will pull your skirt up over your face and expose you to shame like a disgraced adulteress! |
| 27I have seen your abominations, your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?” | 27People of Jerusalem, I have seen your adulterous worship, your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods. I have seen your disgusting acts of worship on the hills throughout the countryside. You are doomed to destruction! How long will you continue to be unclean?'" |
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