| NET Bible | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1The LORD said to me, "Go and buy some linen shorts and put them on. Do not put them in water." | 1Thus the LORD said to me, "Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water." |
| 2So I bought the shorts as the LORD had told me to do and put them on. | 2So I bought the waistband in accordance with the word of the LORD and put it around my waist. |
| 3Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, | 3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, |
| 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." | 4"Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock." |
| 5So I went and buried them at Perath as the LORD had ordered me to do. | 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had commanded me. |
| 6Many days later the LORD said to me, "Go at once to Perath and get the shorts I ordered you to bury there." | 6After many days the LORD said to me, "Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there." |
| 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. | 7Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless. |
| 8Then the LORD said to me, | 8Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 9"I, the LORD, say: 'This shows how I will ruin the highly exalted position in which Judah and Jerusalem take pride. | 9"Thus says the LORD, 'Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. |
| 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. | 10'This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless. |
| 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. | 11'For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,' declares the LORD, 'that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.' |
| 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?' | 12"Therefore you are to speak this word to them, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Every jug is to be filled with wine."' And when they say to you, 'Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?' |
| 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. | 13then say to them, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land-- the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem-- with drunkenness! |
| 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." | 14"I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together," declares the LORD. "I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them."'" |
| 15Then I said to the people of Judah, "Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant! For the LORD has spoken. | 15Listen and give heed, do not be haughty, For the LORD has spoken. |
| 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. | 16Give glory to the LORD your God, Before He brings darkness And before your feet stumble On the dusky mountains, And while you are hoping for light He makes it into deep darkness, And turns it into gloom. |
| 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." | 17But if you will not listen to it, My soul will sob in secret for such pride; And my eyes will bitterly weep And flow down with tears, Because the flock of the LORD has been taken captive. |
| 18The LORD told me, "Tell the king and the queen mother, 'Surrender your thrones, for your glorious crowns will be removed from your heads. | 18Say to the king and the queen mother, "Take a lowly seat, For your beautiful crown Has come down from your head." |
| 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.'" | 19The cities of the Negev have been locked up, And there is no one to open them; All Judah has been carried into exile, Wholly carried into exile. |
| 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? | 20"Lift up your eyes and see Those coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, Your beautiful sheep? |
| 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. | 21"What will you say when He appoints over you-- And you yourself had taught them-- Former companions to be head over you? Will not pangs take hold of you Like a woman in childbirth? |
| 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. | 22"If you say in your heart, 'Why have these things happened to me?' Because of the magnitude of your iniquity Your skirts have been removed And your heels have been exposed. |
| 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? | 23"Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil. |
| 24"The LORD says, 'That is why I will scatter your people like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind. | 24"Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw To the desert wind. |
| 25This is your fate, the destiny to which I have appointed you, because you have forgotten me and have trusted in false gods. | 25"This is your lot, the portion measured to you From Me," declares the LORD, "Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in falsehood. |
| 26So I will pull your skirt up over your face and expose you to shame like a disgraced adulteress! | 26"So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face, That your shame may be seen. |
| 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?'" | 27"As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, The lewdness of your prostitution On the hills in the field, I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?" |
| NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. //netbible.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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