A Linen Belt

13 This 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.” ² So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.

³ Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time:^{(A) 4} “Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath^[a](B) and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” ⁵ So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.^(C)

⁶ Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” ⁷ So 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.

⁸ Then 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^(D) of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ These wicked people, who refuse to listen^(E) to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts^(F) and go after other gods^(G) to serve and worship them,^(H) will be like this belt—completely useless!^{(I) 11} For 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^(J) and praise and honor.^(K) But they have not listened.’^(L)

Wineskins

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?’ ¹³ then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkenness^(M) 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. ¹⁴ I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity^(N) or mercy or compassion^(O) to keep me from destroying^(P) them.’”

Threat of Captivity

Day of Disaster

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ² “You must not marry^(A) and have sons or daughters in this place.” ³ For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:^{(B) 4} “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried^(C) but will be like dung lying on the ground.^(D) They will perish by sword and famine,^(E) and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”^(F)

⁵ For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity^(G) from this people,” declares the Lord. ⁶ “Both high and low will die in this land.^(H) They will not be buried or mourned,^(I) and no one will cut^(J) themselves or shave^(K) their head for the dead. ⁷ No one will offer food^(L) to comfort those who mourn^(M) for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console^(N) them.

⁸ “And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.^{(O) 9} For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds^(P) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride^(Q) and bridegroom in this place.^(R)

¹⁰ “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’^{(S) 11} then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped^(T) them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.^{(U) 12} But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.^(V) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts^(W) instead of obeying me. ¹³ So I will throw you out of this land^(X) into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,^(Y) and there you will serve other gods^(Z) day and night, for I will show you no favor.’^(AA)

¹⁴ “However, the days are coming,”^(AB) declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’^{(AC) 15} but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north^(AD) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’^(AE) For I will restore^(AF) them to the land I gave their ancestors.^(AG)

¹⁶ “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.^(AH) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt^(AI) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.^{(AJ) 17} My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden^(AK) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.^{(AL) 18} I will repay^(AM) them double^(AN) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land^(AO) with the lifeless forms of their vile images^(AP) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.^(AQ)”^(AR)