| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1This is what the LORD told me: "Go and buy a linen belt for yourself, and put it around your waist. But don't let it get wet." | 1The LORD said to me, "Go and buy some linen shorts and put them on. Do not put them in water." |
| 2So I bought the belt according to the LORD's instruction, and put it around my waist. | 2So I bought the shorts as the LORD had told me to do and put them on. |
| 3Then this message from the LORD came to me a second time: | 3Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, |
| 4Take the belt that you bought and that is around your waist. Get up and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a crevice in 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 at the Euphrates, just as the LORD had commanded me. | 5So I went and buried them at Perath as the LORD had ordered me to do. |
| 6After a long time, the LORD told me, "Arise, go to the Euphrates, and get the belt 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." |
| 7I went to the Euphrates and dug it up. I got the belt from the place where I had hidden it. The belt was ruined! It was not good for anything. | 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 this message from the LORD came to me: | 8Then the LORD said to me, |
| 9"This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way I'll ruin the pride of Judah and the 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 that refuses to listen to my words, that stubbornly pursues their own desires, and that follows other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt that is not good for anything. | 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 just as the belt clings tightly to a person's waist, so I've made all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah cling tightly to me,' declares the LORD. 'I did this so that they would be my people, name, praise, and glory. But they wouldn't 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"This is what you're to tell them: 'This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Every wineskin is to be filled with wine."' When they say to you, 'Don't we know very well that every wineskin is to 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 say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: "I'm about to make all the inhabitants of this land drunk—the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the residents 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. |
| 14I'll smash them against each other, even fathers against their sons," declares the LORD. "I'll have no pity, mercy, or compassion when I 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." |
| 15Listen and pay attention! Don't 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 twilight. You hope for light, but he turns it into deep darkness. He changes it into heavy gloom. | 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. |
| 17If you don't listen, I'll cry secretly because of your pride. My eyes will cry bitterly, flowing 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, "Come take a lowly seat, because your beautiful crowns have fallen off 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 towns in the Negev will be closed up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be taken into exile and be completely exiled. | 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"Look up and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you— your beautiful sheep? | 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 the LORD appoints over you as your head those whom you taught to be your allies? Pain will seize you like that seizing a woman about to give birth, will it not? | 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. |
| 22When you say to yourselves, 'Why have all these things happened to me?' It's because of the extent of your iniquity that your skirt has been lifted up, and your heels have suffered 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 an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Then you who are trained to do evil will also be able to do good. | 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'll scatter them like chaff blown away by a desert wind. | 24"The LORD says, 'That is why I will scatter your people like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind. |
| 25"This is your fate, the portion I've measured out for you," declares the LORD, "because you have forgotten me and have trusted in false gods. | 25This is your fate, the destiny to which I have appointed you, because you have forgotten me and have trusted in false gods. |
| 26I'll also pull your skirt up over your face, so 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've seen your detestable behavior: your adulteries, your passionate neighing, your lewd immorality on the hills in the field. How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem! You are unclean. How much longer will this go on?" | 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?'" |
|
