¹¹ When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ^(A)‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”

³³ Then the ^(A)commander came near and took him, and ^(B)commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done.

Symbol of the Linen Sash

13 Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it ^[a]around your waist, but do not put it in water.” ² So I got a ^[b]sash according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist.

³ And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, ⁴ “Take the ^[c]sash that you acquired, which is ^[d]around your waist, and arise, go to the ^[e]Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.” ⁵ So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

⁶ Now it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷ Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the ^[f]sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord: ‘In this manner ^(A)I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great ^(B)pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ This evil people, who ^(C)refuse to hear My words, who ^(D)follow^[g] the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. ¹¹ For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^(E)they may become My people, ^(F)for renown, for praise, and for ^(G)glory; but they would ^(H)not hear.’

²⁷ And as Samuel turned around to go away, ^(A)Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ So Samuel said to him, ^(B)“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

²³ except that ^(A)the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

¹⁹ And the people said to me, ^(A)“Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?”

²⁰ Then I answered them, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²¹ ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, ^(B)I will profane My sanctuary, ^[a]your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the ^[b]delight of your soul; ^(C)and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. ²² And you shall do as I have done; ^(D)you shall not cover your ^[c]lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow. ²³ Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; ^(E)you shall neither mourn nor weep, but ^(F)you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another. ²⁴ Thus ^(G)Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; ^(H)and when this comes, ^(I)you shall know that I am the Lord God.’ ”

²⁵ ‘And you, son of man—will it not be in the day when I take from them ^(J)their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and ^[d]that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters:

^10 (A)“Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(B)“Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be ^[a]made whole again; and they shall ^(C)bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury.

¹⁵ And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. ¹⁶ Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at ^(A)Aphek till you have destroyed them.” ¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. ¹⁹ And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! ^(B)But now you will strike Syria only three times.”

¹¹ Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made ^(A)horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall ^(B)gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ”