| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1The LORD said to me, "Go and buy some linen shorts and put them on. Do not put them in water." | 1This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.” |
| 2So I bought the shorts as the LORD had told me to do and put them on. | 2So I bought the loincloth as the LORD directed me, and I put it on. |
| 3Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, | 3Then the LORD gave me another message: |
| 4"Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing and go at once to Perath. Bury the shorts there in a crack in the rocks." | 4“Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.” |
| 5So I went and buried them at Perath as the LORD had ordered me to do. | 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the LORD had instructed me. |
| 6Many days later the LORD said to me, "Go at once to Perath and get the shorts I ordered you to bury there." | 6A long time afterward the LORD said to me, “Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.” |
| 7So I went to Perath and dug up the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found that they were ruined; they were good for nothing. | 7So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing. |
| 8Then the LORD said to me, | 8Then I received this message from the LORD: |
| 9"I, the LORD, say: 'This shows how I will ruin the highly exalted position in which Judah and Jerusalem take pride. | 9“This is what the LORD says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. |
| 10These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing. | 10These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth—good for nothing! |
| 11For,' I say, 'just as shorts cling tightly to a person's body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah tightly to me.' I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. But they would not obey me. | 11As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the LORD. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me. |
| 12"So tell them, 'The LORD, the God of Israel, says, "Every wine jar is made to be filled with wine."' And they will probably say to you, 'Do you not think we know that every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine?' | 12“So tell them, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: May all your jars be filled with wine.’ And they will reply, ‘Of course! Jars are made to be filled with wine!’ |
| 13Then tell them, 'The LORD says, "I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor. I will also fill the kings from David's dynasty, the priests, the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor. | 13“Then tell them, ‘No, this is what the LORD means: I will fill everyone in this land with drunkenness—from the king sitting on David’s throne to the priests and the prophets, right down to the common people of Jerusalem. |
| 14And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike. I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,' says the LORD." | 14I will smash them against each other, even parents against children, says the LORD. I will not let my pity or mercy or compassion keep me from destroying them.’” A Warning against Pride |
| 15Then I said to the people of Judah, "Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant! For the LORD has spoken. | 15Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken. |
| 16Show the LORD your God the respect that is due him. Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. Do it before you stumble into distress like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for into the darkness and gloom of exile. | 16Give glory to the LORD your God before it is too late. Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness and gloom. |
| 17But if you will not pay attention to this warning, I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride. I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears because you, the LORD's flock, will be carried into exile." | 17And if you still refuse to listen, I will weep alone because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock will be led away into exile. |
| 18The LORD told me, "Tell the king and the queen mother, 'Surrender your thrones, for your glorious crowns will be removed from your heads. | 18Say to the king and his mother, “Come down from your thrones and sit in the dust, for your glorious crowns will soon be snatched from your heads.” |
| 19The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight. No one will be able to go in or out of them. All Judah will be carried off into exile. They will be completely carried off into exile.'" | 19The towns of the Negev will close their gates, and no one will be able to open them. The people of Judah will be taken away as captives. All will be carried into exile. |
| 20Then I said, "Look up, Jerusalem, and see the enemy that is coming from the north. Where now is the flock of people that were entrusted to your care? Where now are the 'sheep' that you take such pride in? | 20Open up your eyes and see the armies marching down from the north! Where is your flock— your beautiful flock— that he gave you to care for? |
| 21What will you say when the LORD appoints as rulers over you those allies that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? Then anguish and agony will grip you like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. | 21What will you say when the LORD takes the allies you have cultivated and appoints them as your rulers? Pangs of anguish will grip you, like those of a woman in labor! |
| 22You will probably ask yourself, 'Why have these things happened to me? Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteress whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?' It is because you have sinned so much. | 22You may ask yourself, “Why is all this happening to me?” It is because of your many sins! That is why you have been stripped and raped by invading armies. |
| 23But there is little hope for you ever doing good, you who are so accustomed to doing evil. Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard remove its spots? | 23Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you have always done evil. |
| 24"The LORD says, 'That is why I will scatter your people like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind. | 24“I will scatter you like chaff that is blown away by the desert winds. |
| 25This is your fate, the destiny to which I have appointed you, because you have forgotten me and have trusted in false gods. | 25This is your allotment, the portion I have assigned to you,” says the LORD, “for you have forgotten me, putting your trust in false gods. |
| 26So I will pull your skirt up over your face and expose you to shame like a disgraced adulteress! | 26I myself will strip you and expose you to shame. |
| 27People of Jerusalem, I have seen your adulterous worship, your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods. I have seen your disgusting acts of worship on the hills throughout the countryside. You are doomed to destruction! How long will you continue to be unclean?'" | 27I have seen your adultery and lust, and your disgusting idol worship out in the fields and on the hills. What sorrow awaits you, Jerusalem! How long before you are pure?” |
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