“Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you.

“Now, get ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them or I will cause you to cower before them.

“You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says:

Do people fall and not get up again?
If they turn away, do they not return?

This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it on, but do not put it in water.”

A long time later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.”

So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined—of no use at all.