1. The Lord said to me, "Go and buy a linen belt. Put it around your waist. But do not let it get wet."
2. So I bought a belt, just as the Lord had told me to do. And I put it around my waist.
3. Then another message came to me from the Lord. He said,
4. "Take off the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist. Go to Perath. Hide the belt there in a crack in the rocks."
5. So I went and hid it at Perath. I did just as the Lord had told me to do.
6. Many days later the Lord spoke to me again. He told me, "Go to Perath. Get the belt I told you to hide there."
7. So I went to Perath. I dug up the belt. I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But it had rotted. It was completely useless.
8. Then another message came to me from the Lord. He said,
9. "In the same way, I will destroy Judah's pride. And I will destroy the great pride of Jerusalem.
10. "Those people are evil. They refuse to listen to what I say. They do what their stubborn hearts want them to do. They chase after other gods. They serve them and worship them. So they will be like this belt. They will be completely useless.
11. A belt is tied around a man's waist. In the same way, I tied all of the people of Israel and Judah to me," announces the Lord. "I wanted them to be my people. They should have brought me fame and praise and honor. But they have not listened to me.