The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
King James Version KJV
1 ADONAI said to me, "Go, buy yourself a linen loincloth, and wrap it around your body; but don't soften it in water."
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Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
2 So I bought a loincloth, as ADONAI had said, and put it on.
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So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.
3 Then the word of ADONAI came to me a second time:
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And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
4 "Take the loincloth you bought and are wearing, get up, go to Parah, and hide it there in a hole in the rock."
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Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
5 So I went and hid it in Parah, as ADONAI had ordered me.
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So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
6 A long time afterwards, ADONAI said to me, "Get up, go to Parah, and recover the loincloth I ordered you to hide there."
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And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 So I went to Parah and dug up the loincloth; but when I took it from the place where I had hidden it, I saw that it was ruined and useless for anything.
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Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of ADONAI came to me:
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Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 "Here is what ADONAI says: 'This is how I will ruin what makes Y'hudah so proud and Yerushalayim so very proud:
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Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 I will ruin this evil people, who refuse to hear my words and live according to their own stubborn inclinations, who go after other gods to serve and worship them. They will be like this loincloth, which is useless for anything.
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This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
11 For just as a loincloth clings to a man's body, I made the whole house of Isra'el and the whole house of Y'hudah cling to me,' says ADONAI, 'so that they could be my people, building me a name and becoming for me a source of praise and honor. But they would not listen.
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For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
12 So you are to tell them, "This is what ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'Every bottle is filled with wine.'" Then when they ask you, "Don't we already know that every bottle is filled with wine?"
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Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13 you are to answer them, "This is what ADONAI says: 'I am going to fill all the inhabitants of this land - including the kings sitting on the throne of David, the cohanim, the prophets and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim - with drunkenness.
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Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14 Then I will smash them one against another, even fathers and sons together,' says ADONAI 'I will show neither pity nor compassion, but I will destroy them relentlessly.'"'"
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And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
15 Listen and pay attention; don't be proud! For ADONAI has spoken.
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Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
16 Give glory to ADONAI your God before the darkness falls, before your feet stumble on the mountains in the twilight, and, while you are seeking light, he turns it into deathlike shadows and makes it completely dark.
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Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
17 But if you will not hear this warning, I will weep secretly because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, streaming with tears, because ADONAI's flock is carried away captive.
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But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.
18 Tell the king and the queen mother, "Come down from your thrones, for your magnificent crowns are falling from your heads."
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Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
19 The cities of the Negev are besieged, and no one can relieve them; all of Y'hudah is carried into exile, completely swept into exile.
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The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
20 Raise your eyes, and you will see them coming from the north. Where is the flock once entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?
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Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 When he sets over you as rulers those you trained to be allies, what will you say? Won't pains seize you like those of a woman in labor?
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What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
22 And if you ask yourself, "Why have these things happened to me?" it is because of your many sins that your skirts are pulled up and you have been violated.
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And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.
23 Can an Ethiopian change his skin? or a leopard its spots? If they can, then you can do good, who are so accustomed to doing evil.
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Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
24 "So I will scatter them like chaff that flies away in the desert wind.
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Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is what you get," says ADONAI, "the portion I measure out to you, because you have forgotten me and trusted in the lie.
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This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 I myself will lift your skirts above your face, and your privates will be exposed.
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Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
27 On the hills and in the fields, I have seen your abominations - your adulteries, your lustful neighings your shameless prostitution. Woe to you, Yerushalayim! You refuse to be purified! Won't you ever allow it?"
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I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The King James Version is in the public domain.