This is what the Lord said to me:“ Make a yoke, and fasten it on your neck with leather straps.

“耶和华对我如此说：你做绳索与轭，加在自己的颈项上，

“耶和华对我如此说：你要为自己做皮带和木轭，套在你的颈项上，

“耶和华对我如此说：你要为自己做皮带和木轭，套在你的颈项上，

耶和华对我说：“你要做个木轭，用绳索套在自己颈上。

“耶和华对我这样说：‘你要用绳套和木头做轭，套在自己的颈上。

「耶和華對我如此說：你做繩索與軛，加在自己的頸項上，

「耶和華對我如此說：你要為自己做皮帶和木軛，套在你的頸項上，

「耶和華對我如此說：你要為自己做皮帶和木軛，套在你的頸項上，

耶和華對我說：「你要做個木軛，用繩索套在自己頸上。

“耶和華對我這樣說：‘你要用繩套和木頭做軛，套在自己的頸上。

永恆主對我這麼說：『你要為自己作繩索和軛，掛在自己的脖子上。

曰、耶和華諭我云、宜自製索及軛、置於爾項、

宜製縶與軛、懸於爾項、

曰、主如是諭我云、宜製索與軛、懸於爾項、

This is what the Lord said to me:“ Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck.

The Lord said,“ Make a yoke out of ropes and wooden boards. Put it on your neck.

Thus the Lord said to me:“ Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck.

This is what the LORD said to me:“ Make chains and yoke bars for yourself and put them on your neck.

this is what the Lord has said to me:“ Make for yourself restraints and yokes and put them on your neck,

“ Thus says the Lord to me:‘ Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put them on your neck,

Thus saith Jehovah to me: Make thee bonds and bars, and put them upon thy neck;

“ This is what the Lord said to me: Make chains and yoke bars for yourself and put them on your neck.

Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,

The LORD told me,“ Make a yoke out of leather straps and wooden crossbars and put it on your neck.

Yahweh says to me:“ Make bonds and bars, and put them on your neck.

Then give these rebels an illustration with this message from the Sovereign Lord:“ Put a pot on the fire, and pour in some water.Fill it with choice pieces of meat— the rump and the shoulder and all the most tender cuts.Use only the best sheep from the flock, and heap fuel on the fire beneath the pot. Bring the pot to a boil, and cook the bones along with the meat.“ Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: What sorrow awaits Jerusalem, the city of murderers! She is a cooking pot whose corruption can’t be cleaned out. Take the meat out in random order, for no piece is better than another.For the blood of her murders is splashed on the rocks. It isn’t even spilled on the ground, where the dust could cover it!So I will splash her blood on a rock for all to see, an expression of my anger and vengeance against her.“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: What sorrow awaits Jerusalem, the city of murderers! I myself will pile up the fuel beneath her.Yes, heap on the wood! Let the fire roar to make the pot boil. Cook the meat with many spices, and afterward burn the bones.Now set the empty pot on the coals. Heat it red hot! Burn away the filth and corruption.But it’s hopeless; the corruption can’t be cleaned out. So throw it into the fire.

the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz,“ Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.” Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot.Then the Lord said,“ My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign— a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.For the king of Assyria will take away the Egyptians and Ethiopians as prisoners. He will make them walk naked and barefoot, both young and old, their buttocks bared, to the shame of Egypt.

This is what the Lord said to me:“ Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.”So I bought the loincloth as the Lord directed me, and I put it on.Then the Lord gave me another message:“ Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.”So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord had instructed me.A long time afterward the Lord said to me,“ Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.”So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing.Then I received this message from the Lord:“ This is what the Lord says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth— good for nothing!As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory— an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.

and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.Then he said to Jeroboam,“ Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:‘ I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you!

The Sovereign Lord showed me a vision. I saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. This was after the king’s share had been harvested from the fields and as the main crop was coming up.

Again a message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, you live among rebels who have eyes but refuse to see. They have ears but refuse to hear. For they are a rebellious people.“ So now, son of man, pretend you are being sent into exile. Pack the few items an exile could carry, and leave your home to go somewhere else. Do this right in front of the people so they can see you. For perhaps they will pay attention to this, even though they are such rebels.Bring your baggage outside during the day so they can watch you. Then in the evening, as they are watching, leave your house as captives do when they begin a long march to distant lands.Dig a hole through the wall while they are watching and go out through it.As they watch, lift your pack to your shoulders and walk away into the night. Cover your face so you cannot see the land you are leaving. For I have made you a sign for the people of Israel.”So I did as I was told. In broad daylight I brought my pack outside, filled with the things I might carry into exile. Then in the evening while the people looked on, I dug through the wall with my hands and went out into the night with my pack on my shoulder.The next morning this message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, these rebels, the people of Israel, have asked you what all this means.Say to them,‘ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: These actions contain a message for King Zedekiah in Jerusalem and for all the people of Israel.’Explain that your actions are a sign to show what will soon happen to them, for they will be driven into exile as captives.“ Even Zedekiah will leave Jerusalem at night through a hole in the wall, taking only what he can carry with him. He will cover his face, and his eyes will not see the land he is leaving.Then I will throw my net over him and capture him in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Babylonians, though he will never see it, and he will die there.I will scatter his servants and warriors to the four winds and send the sword after them.And when I scatter them among the nations, they will know that I am the Lord.But I will spare a few of them from death by war, famine, or disease, so they can confess all their detestable sins to their captors. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”Then this message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, tremble as you eat your food. Shake with fear as you drink your water.Tell the people,‘ This is what the Sovereign Lord says concerning those living in Israel and Jerusalem: They will eat their food with trembling and sip their water in despair, for their land will be stripped bare because of their violence.The cities will be destroyed and the farmland made desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”Again a message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, you’ve heard that proverb they quote in Israel:‘ Time passes, and prophecies come to nothing.’Tell the people,‘ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will put an end to this proverb, and you will soon stop quoting it.’ Now give them this new proverb to replace the old one:‘ The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled!’“ There will be no more false visions and flattering predictions in Israel.For I am the Lord! If I say it, it will happen. There will be no more delays, you rebels of Israel. I will fulfill my threat of destruction in your own lifetime. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”Then this message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, the people of Israel are saying,‘ He’s talking about the distant future. His visions won’t come true for a long, long time.’Therefore, tell them,‘ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No more delay! I will now do everything I have threatened. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’”

This is what the Lord said to me:“ Go and buy a clay jar. Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you.Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben Hinnom, and give them this message.Say to them,‘ Listen to this message from the Lord, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will bring a terrible disaster on this place, and the ears of those who hear about it will ring!“‘ For Israel has forsaken me and turned this valley into a place of wickedness. The people burn incense to foreign gods— idols never before acknowledged by this generation, by their ancestors, or by the kings of Judah. And they have filled this place with the blood of innocent children.They have built pagan shrines to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!So beware, for the time is coming, says the Lord, when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.“‘ For I will upset the careful plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will allow the people to be slaughtered by invading armies, and I will leave their dead bodies as food for the vultures and wild animals.I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins, making it a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will gasp at the destruction they see there.I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.’“ As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought.Then say to them,‘ This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. They will bury the bodies here in Topheth, the garbage dump, until there is no more room for them.

Then I repeated this same message to King Zedekiah of Judah.“ If you want to live, submit to the yoke of the king of Babylon and his people.

“ Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.”So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel.But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.Then the Lord gave me this message:“ O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed,but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned.And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom,but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.

“ And now, son of man, take a large clay brick and set it down in front of you. Then draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it.Show the city under siege. Build a wall around it so no one can escape. Set up the enemy camp, and surround the city with siege ramps and battering rams.Then take an iron griddle and place it between you and the city. Turn toward the city and demonstrate how harsh the siege will be against Jerusalem. This will be a warning to the people of Israel.“ Now lie on your left side and place the sins of Israel on yourself. You are to bear their sins for the number of days you lie there on your side.I am requiring you to bear Israel’s sins for 390 days— one day for each year of their sin.

Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck and broke it in pieces.And Hananiah said again to the crowd that had gathered,“ This is what the Lord says:‘ Just as this yoke has been broken, within two years I will break the yoke of oppression from all the nations now subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.’” With that, Jeremiah left the Temple area.Soon after this confrontation with Hananiah, the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah:“ Go and tell Hananiah,‘ This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but you have replaced it with a yoke of iron.The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I have put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations, forcing them into slavery under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control.’”

Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land.