The Ruined Loincloth
1Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and qput it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, 4“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, rgo to the Euphrates and hide it there in sa cleft of the rock.” 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there qthe loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took qthe loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was tspoiled; it was ugood for nothing.
8Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9“Thus says the Lord: vEven so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great wpride of Jerusalem. 10This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, xwho stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ugood for nothing. 11For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, ythat they might be for me a people, za name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.
The Jars Filled with Wine
12“You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that aevery jar will be filled with wine?’ 13Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: bBehold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: cthe kings who sit on David's throne, dthe priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14And I will edash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”
Exile Threatened
15Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16fGive glory to the Lord your God
gbefore he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and gwhile you look for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it hdeep darkness.
17But if you will not listen,
imy soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.
18Say to jthe king and jthe queen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for kyour beautiful crown
has come down from your head.”
19lThe cities of the Negeb are shut up,
with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
wholly taken into exile.
20“Lift up your eyes mand see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
your beautiful flock?
21What will you say when they set as head over you
those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
nWill not pangs take hold of you
like those of a woman in labor?
22And if you say in your heart,
o‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
that pyour skirts are lifted up
and you suffer violence.
23qCan the Ethiopian change his skin
or qthe leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.
24I will scatter you1 rlike chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.
25sThis is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because tyou have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26pI myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.
27I have seen uyour abominations,
your adulteries and vneighings, your lewd whorings,
won the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be xbefore you are made clean?”
Footnotes
- 1 13:24 Hebrew them
The Prophesied Kingdom — Part One
Ezra 1:1 – Malachi 4:6 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 36:31 • ID: 2390The Prophesied Kingdom — Part Two
Ezra 1:1 – Malachi 4:6 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 43:38 • ID: 2391Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.