1Thus says Yehovah to me, Go, and buy yourself a linen waistband, and put it upon your loins, and do not put it in water. 2So I bought a waistband according to the word of Yehovah, and put it upon my loins. 3And the word of Yehovah came to me the second time, saying, 4Take the waistband that you have bought, which is upon your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock. 5So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as Yehovah commanded me. 6And it happened after many days, that Yehovah said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the waistband, which I commanded you to hide there. 7Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and, behold, the waistband was ruined, it was profitable for nothing. 8Then the word of Yehovah came to me, saying, 9Thus says Yehovah, In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them, shall even be as this waistband, which is profitable for nothing. 11For as the waistband clings to the loins of a man, so I have caused to cling to me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says Yehovah; that they may be to me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. 12Therefore you shall speak to them this word: Thus says Yehovah, the God of Israel, Every jar shall be filled with wine: and they shall say to you, Do we not certainly know that every jar shall be filled with wine? 13Then you shall say to them, Thus says Yehovah, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. 14And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says Yehovah: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them. 15Hear, and give ear; do not be proud; for Yehovah has spoken. 16Give glory to Yehovah your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while you look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it thick darkness. 17But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and my eye shall weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because Yehovah’s flock is taken captive. 18Say to the king and to the queen mother, Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headdresses have come down, even the crown of your glory. 19The cities of the South are shut up, and there is no one to open them: Judah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive. 20Lift up your eyes, and behold those who come from the north: where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock? 21What will you say, when he sets over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? shall not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in labor? 22And if you say in your heart, Why have these things come upon me? for the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered, and your heels suffer violence. 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then you also may do good, who are accustomed to do evil. 24Therefore I will scatter them, as the stubble that passes away, by the wind of the wilderness. 25This is your lot, the portion measured to you from me, says Yehovah; because you have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood. 26Therefore I will also uncover your skirts upon your face, and your shame shall appear. 27I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries, and your neighings, the lewdness of your whoredom, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! you will not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?