27 ^fAs Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, ^g“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

30 Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, ^vand tore it into twelve pieces.

3 Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years ^oas a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,¹

The Ruined Loincloth

1 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and ^qput 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, ^rgo to the Euphrates and hide it there in ^sa 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 ^qthe loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^qthe loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ^tspoiled; it was ^ugood for nothing.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: ^vEven so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great ^wpride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^xwho stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ^ugood 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, ^ythat they might be for me a people, ^za name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

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