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1 Thus
saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy
loins, and put it not in water.
2 So I
got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.
3 And the
word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
4 Take
the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to
Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
5 So I
went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
6 And it
came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me,
Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence,
which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 Then I
went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from
the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was
profitable for nothing.
8 Then
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Thus
saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride
of Judah, and
the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This
evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of
their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them,
shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
11 For
as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto
me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that
they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a
glory: but they would not hear.
12 Therefore
thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the
LORD God of Israel,
Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not
certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13 Then
shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the
inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David?s throne, and the
priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with
drunkenness.
14 And I
will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,
saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
16 Give
glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet
stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into
the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
17 But
if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your
pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the
LORD?S flock is carried away captive.
18 Say
unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit
down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your
glory.
19 The cities
of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah
shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away
captive.
20 Lift
up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the
flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 What
wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast
taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not
sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
22 And
if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these
things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and
thy heels made bare.
23 Can
the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots? then may ye also do good, that are
accustomed to do evil.
24 Therefore
will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the
wilderness.
25 This is
thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast
forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore
will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy
shame may appear.
27 I
have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and
thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall
it once be?
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