| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 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." | 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 a belt, as the LORD directed, and put it around my waist. | 2So I bought the waistband in accordance with the word of the LORD and 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, saying, |
| 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 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 hid it at Perath, as the LORD told me. | 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, 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." | 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 belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless. | 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 word of the LORD came to me: | 8Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 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"Thus says the LORD, 'Just so will I destroy 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! | 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 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.' | 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"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?' | 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, '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 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! |
| 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.'" | 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."'" |
| 15Hear 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. |
| 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 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. |
| 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 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. |
| 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 the queen mother, "Take a lowly seat, For your beautiful crown Has come down from your head." |
| 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 locked up, And there is no one to open them; All Judah has been carried into exile, Wholly carried into exile. |
| 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? | 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 sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor? | 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? |
| 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. | 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. |
| 23Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil. | 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"I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. | 24"Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw To 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. | 25"This is your lot, the portion measured to you From Me," 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-- | 26"So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off 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?" | 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?" |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | 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 |
|
