Isa 20:2-3, Jer 13:1-11, Eze 4-5, Hos 3:1 | ESV | STEP | at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz , saying , Go , and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet , and he did so , walking naked and barefoot .

2 at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking ^anaked and barefoot.

3 Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years ^bas a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, ^{▼▼Probably Nubia}

Jeremiah 13:1-11

The Ruined Loincloth

1 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and ^dput it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, ^ego to the Euphrates and hide it there in ^fa cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there ^gthe loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^hthe loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ⁱspoiled; it was ^jgood for nothing.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: ^kEven so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great ^lpride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^mwho stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ⁿgood for nothing. 11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, ^othat they might be for me a people, ^pa name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

Ezekiel 4

The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

1 “And you, ^qson of man, ^rtake a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 ^sAnd put siegeworks against it, ^tand build a siege wall against it, ^uand cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, ^vand plant battering rams against it all around. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; ^wand set your face toward it, ^xand let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is ^ya sign for the house of Israel.

4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment ^{▼▼Or iniquity; also verses 5, 6, 17} of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ^aayou shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, ^ab390 days, ^acequal to the number of the years of their punishment. ^adSo long shall you bear ^aethe punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ^afbear ^agthe punishment of the house of Judah. ^ahForty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 ^aiAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, ^ajwith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, ^akI will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed ^althe days of your siege.

9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, ^{▼▼A type of wheat} and put them into a single vessel and make your ^anbread from them. ^aoDuring the number of days that you lie on your side, ^ap390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be ^aqby weight, ^artwenty shekels ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} a day; from day to day ^{▼▼Or at a set time daily; also verse 11} you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink ^auby measure, the sixth part of a hin; ^{▼▼A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters} from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it ^awin their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat ^axtheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, ^ay“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. ^{▼▼Hebrew my soul (or throat) has never been made unclean} ^baFrom my youth up till now I have never eaten ^bbwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has ^bctainted meat come into my mouth.” 15 Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16 Moreover, he said to me, ^bd“Son of man, behold, ^beI will break the supply ^{▼▼Hebrew staff} of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread ^bgby weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water ^bhby measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and ^bilook at one another in dismay, and ^bjrot away because of their punishment.

Ezekiel 5

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

1 “And you, ^bkO son of man, take a ^blsharp sword. Use it as ^bma barber’s razor and ^bnpass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 ^boA third part you shall burn in the fire ^bpin the midst of the city, ^bqwhen the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. ^brAnd a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and ^bsI will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 ^btAnd you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 ^buAnd of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

5 “Thus says the Lord God: ^bvThis is Jerusalem. I have set her ^bwin the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness ^bxmore than the nations, and against my statutes more than ^bythe countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are ^bzmore turbulent than the nations that are all around you, ^caand have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, ^cband have not ^{▼▼Some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac lack not} even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, ^cdam against you. ^ceAnd I will execute judgments ^{▼▼The same Hebrew expression can mean obey rules, or execute judgments, depending on the context} in your midst ^cgin the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you ^chwhat I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore ^cifathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. ^cjAnd I will execute judgments on you, ^ckand any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, ^clas I live, declares the Lord God, surely, ^cmbecause you have defiled my sanctuary ^cnwith all your detestable things and with all your ^coabominations, ^cptherefore I will withdraw. ^{▼▼Some Hebrew manuscripts I will cut you down} ^crMy eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 ^csA third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; ^cta third part shall fall by the sword all around you; ^cuand a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

13 ^cv“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that ^cwI am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy— ^cxwhen I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you ^cya desolation and ^czan object of reproach among ^dathe nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You shall be ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; Masoretic Text And it shall be} a reproach and a taunt, a warning ^dcand a horror, to ^ddthe nations all around you, ^dewhen I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and ^dfwith furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— 16 when I send against you ^{▼▼Hebrew them} ^dhthe deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon ^diyou and break your supply ^{▼▼Hebrew staff} of bread. 17 I will send famine and ^dkwild beasts against you, ^dland they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and ^dmblood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

Hosea 3:1

Hosea Redeems His Wife

1 And the Lord said to me, ^dn“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”