The Linen Loincloth

13 Thus said the Lord to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it on your loins, but do not dip it in water.”^(A)

God Has Spoken by His Son

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,

¹¹ For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord, in order that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen.^(A)

The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed

4 “And you, O mortal, take a brick and set it before you. On it portray a city, Jerusalem,^{(A) 2} and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a ramp against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.^{(B) 3} Then take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.^(C)

⁴ “Then lie on your left side and place the guilt of the house of Israel upon it; you shall bear their guilt for the number of the days that you lie there.^{(D) 5} For I assign to you a number of days, three hundred ninety days, equal to the number of the years of their guilt, and so you shall bear the guilt of the house of Israel.^(E)

² Thus the Lord said to me: Make for yourself yoke straps and bars and put them on your neck.^(A)