Jeremiah 13:1-17 - The Linen Loincloth
1 Thus says LORD to me, Go, and buy thee a linen sash, and put it upon thy loins, and do not put it in water. 2 So I bought a sash according to the word of LORD, and put it upon my loins.
3 And the word of LORD came to me the second time, saying, 4 Take the sash that thou have bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock. 5 So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as LORD commanded me.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that LORD said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the sash from there, which I commanded thee to hide there. 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the sash from the place where I had hid it. And, behold, the sash was rotten. It was good for nothing.
8 Then the word of LORD came to me, saying, 9 Thus says LORD, After this manner I will mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this sash, which is good for nothing. 11 For as the sash clings to the loins of a man, so I have caused to cling to me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says LORD, that they may be to me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory
12 Therefore thou shall speak to them this word. Thus says LORD, the God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? 13 Then thou shall say to them, Thus says LORD: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkennes 14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says LORD. I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.
15 Hear ye, and give ear, be not proud, for LORD has spoken. 16 Give glory to LORD your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains. And, while ye look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it gross darkness. 17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for [your] pride. And my eye shall weep greatly, and run down with tears, because LORD's flock is taken captive.