Jeremiah 13:1–11

¹Thus said Jehovah unto me, ‘Go, and thou hast got for thee a girdle of linen, and hast placed it on thy loins, and into water thou dost not cause it to enter:’ ²and I get the girdle, according to the word of Jehovah, and I place it on my loins. ³And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, saying, ⁴‘Take the girdle that thou hast got, that is on thy loins, and rise, go to Phrat, and hide it there in a hole of the rock; ⁵and I go and hide it by Phrat, as Jehovah commanded me. ⁶And it cometh to pass, at the end of many days, that Jehovah saith unto me, ‘Rise, go to Phrat, and take thence the girdle, that I commanded thee to hide there;’ ⁷and I go to Phrat, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and lo, the girdle hath been marred, it is not profitable for anything. ⁸And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, ‘Thus said Jehovah: ⁹Thus do I mar the excellency of Judah, And the great excellency of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, Who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, And go after other gods to serve them, And to bow themselves to them, Yea it is—as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything. ¹¹For, as the girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, So I caused to cleave unto Me The whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah, To be to Me for a people, and for a name, And for praise, and for beauty, And they have not hearkened.