| New International Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water." | 1This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” |
| 2So I bought a belt, as the LORD directed, and put it around my waist. | 2So I bought a loincloth as the LORD had instructed me, and I put it around my waist. |
| 3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time: | 3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time: |
| 4"Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks." | 4“Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to Perath and hide it there in a crevice of the rocks.” |
| 5So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD told me. | 5So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD had commanded me. |
| 6Many days later the LORD said to me, "Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there." | 6Many days later the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” |
| 7So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless. | 7So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all. |
| 8Then the word of the LORD came to me: | 8Then the word of the LORD came to me: |
| 9"This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. | 9“This is what the LORD says: In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. |
| 10These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt--completely useless! | 10These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all. |
| 11For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,' declares the LORD, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.' | 11For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I have made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me, declares the LORD, so that they might be My people for My renown and praise and glory. But they did not listen. |
| 12"Say to them: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.' And if they say to you, 'Don't we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?' | 12Therefore you are to tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every wineskin shall be filled with wine.’ And when they reply, ‘Don’t we surely know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ |
| 13then tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. | 13then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem. |
| 14I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.'" | 14I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’ ” |
| 15Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken. | 15Listen and give heed. Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken. |
| 16Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom. | 16Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness. |
| 17If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the LORD's flock will be taken captive. | 17But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive. |
| 18Say to the king and to the queen mother, "Come down from your thrones, for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads." | 18Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.” |
| 19The cities in the Negev will be shut up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away. | 19The cities of the Negev have been shut tight, and no one can open them. All Judah has been carried into exile, wholly taken captive. |
| 20Look up and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was entrusted to you, the sheep of which you boasted? | 20Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride? |
| 21What will you say when the LORD sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor? | 21What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor? |
| 22And if you ask yourself, "Why has this happened to me?"-- it is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated. | 22And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed. |
| 23Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil. | 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil. |
| 24"I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. | 24“I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. |
| 25This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you," declares the LORD, "because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods. | 25This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood. |
| 26I will pull up your skirts over your face that your shame may be seen-- | 26So I will pull your skirts up over your face, that your shame may be seen. |
| 27your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the fields. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will you be unclean?" | 27Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields—I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?” |
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