1. Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it upon your loins, and do not put it in water.”
2. So I bought a waistband according to the word of the Lord and put it on my loins.
3. The word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying,
4. “Take the waistband that you have, which is upon your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock.”
5. So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me.
6. After many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take the waistband from there, which I commanded you to hide there.”
7. Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. But the waistband was destroyed. It was profitable for nothing.
8. Then the word of the Lord came to me:
9. Thus says the Lord: After this manner I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.