13This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.”H559H3068H1980H7069H6593H232H7760H4975H935H43252So I bought the loincloth as the Lord directed me, and I put it on.H7069H232H1697H3068H7760H49753Then the Lord gave me another message:H1697H3068H8145H5594“Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.”H3947H232H7069H4975H6965H3212H6578H2934H5357H55535So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord had instructed me.H3212H2934H6578H3068H66806A long time afterward the Lord said to me, “Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.”H7093H7227H3117H3068H559H6965H3212H6578H3947H232H6680H29347So 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.H3212H6578H2658H3947H232H4725H2934H232H7843H67438Then I received this message from the Lord:H1697H3068H5599“This is what the Lord says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.H559H3068H7843H1347H3063H7227H1347H338910These 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!H7451H5971H3987H8085H1697H1980H8307H3820H3212H310H312H430H5647H7812H232H674311As 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.H232H1692H4975H376H1692H1004H3478H1004H3063H5002H3068H5971H8034H8416H8597H808512“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!’H559H1697H559H3068H430H3478H5035H4390H3196H559H3045H3045H5035H4390H319613“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.H559H559H3068H4390H3427H776H4428H3427H1732H3678H3548H5030H3427H3389H794314I 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.’”H5310H376H251H1H1121H3162H5002H3068H2550H2347H7355H7843
A Warning against Pride
15Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.H8085H238H1361H3068H169616Give 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.H5414H3519H3068H430H2821H7272H5062H5399H2022H6960H216H7760H6757H7896H7896H620517And 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.H8085H5315H1058H4565H6440H1466H5869H1830H1830H3381H1832H3068H5739H761718Say 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.”H559H4428H1377H8213H3427H4761H3381H5850H859719The 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.H5892H5045H5462H6605H3063H1540H7965H154020Open 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?H5375H5869H7200H935H6828H5739H5414H8597H662921What 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!H559H6485H3925H441H7218H2256H270H802H320522You 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.H559H3824H7122H7230H5771H7757H1540H6119H255423Can 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.H3569H2015H5785H5246H2272H3201H3190H3928H748924“I will scatter you like chaff that is blown away by the desert winds.H6327H7179H5674H7307H405725This is your allotment, the portion I have assigned to you,” says the Lord, “for you have forgotten me, putting your trust in false gods.H1486H4490H4055H5002H3068H7911H982H826726I myself will strip you and expose you to shame.H2834H7757H6440H7036H720027I 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?”H7200H5004H4684H2154H2184H8251H1389H7704H188H3389H2891H5750H310
Unknown
. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.”H3947
