1This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy yourself a linen belt, and put it round your waist, but do not put it in water."
2So I bought a belt, as the LORD had told me, and put it round my waist.
3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:
4"Take the belt that you bought, which is round your waist. Get up, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock."
5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
6After many days the LORD said to me, "Get up, go to the Euphrates, and take the belt from there, the one I told you to hide."
7So I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the belt from the place where I had hidden it. And look, the belt was ruined. It was good for nothing.
8Then the word of the LORD came to me:
9This is what the LORD says: "In this same way I will ruin the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem."
10These wicked people refuse to hear my words. They walk in the stubbornness of their own hearts. They follow other gods, to serve them and to worship them. So they shall become like this belt, which is good for nothing.
11"For just as a belt clings to a man's waist, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD. They were to be my people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory for me. But they would not listen."
12So you must say this word to them: "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'Every bottle shall be filled with wine.'" And they will say to you, "Do we not know very well that every bottle shall be filled with wine?"
13Then you must say to them, This is what the LORD says: "Look, I am going to fill everyone who lives in this land with drunkenness. I will fill the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all who live in Jerusalem."
14"I will smash them one against another, the fathers and the sons together, says the LORD. I will not pity them, or spare them, or have mercy, but I will destroy them."
15Hear and listen. Do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken.
16Give glory to the LORD your God, before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the dark mountains. You will look for light, but he will turn it into the shadow of death and make it thick darkness.
17But if you will not hear it, I will weep in secret places because of your pride. My eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock is carried away as prisoners.
18Say to the king and to the queen mother, "Humble yourselves, sit down low. For your rule will come down, and so will your glorious crown."
19The cities of the south are shut up, and no one opens them. All Judah is carried away as prisoners; every one of them is taken away.
20Lift up your eyes and look at those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful flock?
21What will you say when he punishes you? You yourself taught them to be your leaders and your chiefs. Will not pain grip you, like a woman giving birth?
22And if you say in your heart, "Why have these things happened to me?" - it is because your sin is so great that your skirts are pulled up and your heels are left bare.
23Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Then you also could do good, you who are used to doing evil.
24So I will scatter them like straw that is blown away by the desert wind.
25This is what you get; this is the portion I have measured out for you, says the LORD. For you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.
26So I myself will pull your skirts up over your face, and your shame will be seen.
27I have seen your adulteries and your neighings, the shameless acts of your prostitution, and your disgusting deeds on the hills and in the fields. How terrible for you, Jerusalem. Will you not be made clean? How long will it be?