| Holman Christian Standard Bible | NET Bible |
| 1This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it on, but do not put 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 underwear as the LORD instructed me and put it on. | 2So I bought the shorts as the LORD had told me to do and put them on. |
| 3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time: | 3Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, |
| 4"Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to the Euphrates and hide it in a rocky crevice." | 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. |
| 6A long time later the LORD said to me, "Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear 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." |
| 7So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined--of no use at all. | 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"This is what the LORD says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem. | 9"I, the LORD, say: 'This shows how I will ruin the highly exalted position in which Judah and Jerusalem take pride. |
| 10These evil people, who refuse to listen to Me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and worship--they will be like this underwear, of no use at all. | 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. |
| 11Just as underwear clings to one's waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to Me"--this is the LORD's declaration--"so that they might be My people for My fame, praise, and glory, but they would not obey. | 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"Say this to them: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine. Then they will respond to you, 'Don't we know that every jar should 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?' |
| 13And you will say to them: This is what the LORD says: I am about to fill all who live in this land--the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents of Jerusalem--with drunkenness. | 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. |
| 14I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike"--this is the LORD's declaration. "I will allow no mercy, pity, or compassion to keep Me from destroying 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." |
| 15Listen and pay attention. Do not be 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 mountains at dusk. You wait for light, but He brings darkest gloom and makes thick 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 innermost being will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, for 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 humble seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads. | 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 Negev are under siege; no one can help them. All of Judah has been taken into exile, taken completely 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.'" |
| 20Look up and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride? | 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 He appoints close friends as leaders over you, ones you yourself trained? Won't labor pains seize you, as they do 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 when you ask yourself, "Why have these things happened to me?" It is because of your great guilt that your skirts have been stripped off, your body exposed. | 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 Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? If so, you might be able to do what is good, you who are instructed in 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 drifting chaff before the desert wind. | 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, what I have decreed for you-- this is the LORD's declaration-- because you have forgotten Me and trusted in Falsehood. | 25This is your fate, the destiny to which I have appointed you, because you have forgotten me and have trusted in false gods. |
| 26I will pull your skirts up over your face so that your shame might be seen. | 26So I will pull your skirt up over your face and expose you to shame like a disgraced adulteress! |
| 27Your adulteries and your lustful neighing, your heinous prostitution on the hills, in the fields-- I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, Jerusalem! You are unclean-- for how long yet? | 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?'" |
|
