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.’