1. THUS THE Lord said to me: Go and buy yourself a linen girdle and put it on your loins, but do not put it in water.
2. So I bought a girdle or waistcloth, according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins.
3. And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying,
4. Take the girdle which you have bought, which is on your loins, and arise, go to the [river] Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.
5. So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
6. And after many days the Lord said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the girdle which I commanded you to hide there.
7. Then I went to the Euphrates and dug and took the girdle or waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the girdle was decayed and spoiled; it was good for nothing.
8. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,