Rotherham(i)
1 Thus, said Yahweh unto me,––Go, and buy for thyself, a linen girdle, and put upon thy loins,––but, in water, shalt thou not place it.
2 So I bought a girdle, according to the word of Yahweh,––and put upon my loins.
3 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me, second time, saying:
4 Take the girdle which thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins,––and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there, in a hole of the cliff.
5 So I went, and hid it, by the Euphrates, as Yahweh had commanded me.
6 And it came to pass, at the end of many days,––that Yahweh said unto me,––Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from thence, the girdle, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 So I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle, out of the place where I had hidden it,––and lo! the girdle, was spoiled, it was good for nothing.
8 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me, saying:
9 Thus, saith Yahweh,––After this manner, will I spoil the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This wicked people, who are refusing to hear my words, who are walking in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods, to serve them, and to bow down to them, yea let them be like this girdle, which is good for nothing.
11 For, as a girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, so, caused I to cleave unto me––the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah, Declareth Yahweh, to become mine––For a people, and, For a name, and, For a praise, and, For an adorning,––but they hearkened not.