The Ruined Belt

13 Thus Yahweh said to me, “Go and ^(A)buy yourself a linen belt and put it around your loins, but do not put it in water.” ² So I bought the belt in accordance with the ^(B)word of Yahweh and put it around my loins. ³ Then the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying, ⁴ “Take the belt that you have bought, which is around your loins, and arise, go to ^[a]the ^(C)Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.” ⁵ So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, ^(D)as Yahweh had commanded me. ⁶ Now it happened that after many days Yahweh said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the belt which I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷ Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was ruined; it was totally worthless.

⁸ Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ⁹ “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Just so will I ruin the ^(E)pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ This evil people, who ^(F)refuse to listen to My words, who ^(G)walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have walked after other gods to serve them and to worship them, let them be just like this belt which is totally worthless. ¹¹ For as the belt clings to the loins of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah ^(H)cling to Me,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for a ^(I)name, for ^(J)praise, and for beauty; but they ^(K)did not listen.’