Symbol of the Linen Sash

13 Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it ^[a]around your waist, but do not put it in water.” ² So I got a ^[b]sash according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist.

³ And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, ⁴ “Take the ^[c]sash that you acquired, which is ^[d]around your waist, and arise, go to the ^[e]Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.” ⁵ So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

⁶ Now it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷ Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the ^[f]sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord: ‘In this manner ^(A)I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great ^(B)pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ This evil people, who ^(C)refuse to hear My words, who ^(D)follow^[g] the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. ¹¹ For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^(E)they may become My people, ^(F)for renown, for praise, and for ^(G)glory; but they would ^(H)not hear.’

Symbol of the Wine Bottles

¹² “Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Every bottle shall be filled with wine.” ’

“And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?’

¹³ “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land—even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—^(I)with drunkenness! ¹⁴ And ^(J)I will dash them ^[h]one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says the Lord. “I will not pity nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them.” ’ ”

Pride Precedes Captivity

³⁶ But if any man thinks he is behaving improperly toward his ^[a]virgin, if she is past the flower of youth, and thus it must be, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin; let them marry. ³⁷ Nevertheless he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so determined in his heart that he will keep his ^[b]virgin, does well. ^38 (A)So then he who gives ^[c]her in marriage does well, but he who does not give her in marriage does better.

^39 (B)A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, ^(C)only in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But she is happier if she remains as she is, ^(D)according to my judgment—and ^(E)I think I also have the Spirit of God.

Be Sensitive to Conscience

8 Now ^(A)concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have ^(B)knowledge. ^(C)Knowledge ^[a]puffs up, but love ^[b]edifies. ² And ^(D)if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. ³ But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

⁴ Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that ^(E)an idol is nothing in the world, ^(F)and that there is no other God but one. ⁵ For even if there are ^(G)so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), ⁶ yet ^(H)for us there is one God, the Father, ^(I)of whom are all things, and we for Him; and ^(J)one Lord Jesus Christ, ^(K)through whom are all things, and ^(L)through whom we live.

⁷ However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, ^(M)with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is ^(N)defiled. ⁸ But ^(O)food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

⁹ But ^(P)beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become ^(Q)a ^[c]stumbling block to those who are weak. ¹⁰ For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not ^(R)the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? ¹¹ And ^(S)because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? ¹² But ^(T)when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, ^(U)if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.