1 The Lord said to me, "Go and buy a linen belt. Put it around your waist. But do not let it get wet."
2 So I bought a belt, just as the Lord had told me to do. And I put it around my waist.
3 Then another message came to me from the Lord. He said,
4 "Take off the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist. Go to Perath. Hide the belt there in a crack in the rocks."
5 So I went and hid it at Perath. I did just as the Lord had told me to do.
6 Many days later the Lord spoke to me again. He told me, "Go to Perath. Get the belt I told you to hide there."
7 So I went to Perath. I dug up the belt. I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But it had rotted. It was completely useless.