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Isaiah 3
New King James Version
Isaiah 3
New King James Version
Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem
3 For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
(A)Takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah
(B)The[a] stock and the store,
The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water;
2 (C)The mighty man and the man of war,
The judge and the prophet,
And the diviner and the elder;
3 The captain of fifty and the [b]honorable man,
The counselor and the skillful artisan,
And the expert enchanter.
4 “I will give (D)children[c] to be their princes,
And [d]babes shall rule over them.
5 The people will be oppressed,
Every one by another and every one by his neighbor;
The child will be insolent toward the [e]elder,
And the [f]base toward the honorable.”
6 When a man takes hold of his brother
In the house of his father, saying,
“You have clothing;
You be our ruler,
And let these ruins be under your [g]power,”
7 In that day he will protest, saying,
“I cannot cure your ills,
For in my house is neither food nor clothing;
Do not make me a ruler of the people.”
8 For (E)Jerusalem stumbled,
And Judah is fallen,
Because their tongue and their doings
Are against the Lord,
To provoke the eyes of His glory.
9 The look on their countenance witnesses against them,
And they declare their sin as (F)Sodom;
They do not hide it.
Woe to their soul!
For they have brought evil upon themselves.
10 “Say to the righteous (G)that it shall be well with them,
(H)For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe to the wicked! (I)It shall be ill with him,
For the reward of his hands shall be [h]given him.
12 As for My people, children are their oppressors,
And women rule over them.
O My people! (J)Those who lead you [i]cause you to err,
And destroy the way of your paths.”
Oppression and Luxury Condemned
13 The Lord stands up (K)to [j]plead,
And stands to judge the people.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment
With the elders of His people
And His princes:
“For you have [k]eaten up (L)the vineyard;
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by (M)crushing My people
And grinding the faces of the poor?”
Says the Lord God of hosts.
16 Moreover the Lord says:
“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
And walk with [l]outstretched necks
And [m]wanton eyes,
Walking and [n]mincing as they go,
Making a jingling with their feet,
17 Therefore the Lord will strike with (N)a scab
The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,
And the Lord will (O)uncover their secret parts.”
18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery:
The jingling anklets, the [o]scarves, and the (P)crescents;
19 The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils;
20 The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands;
The perfume boxes, the charms,
21 and the rings;
The nose jewels,
22 the festal apparel, and the mantles;
The outer garments, the purses,
23 and the mirrors;
The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.
24 And so it shall be:
Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench;
Instead of a sash, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, (Q)baldness;
Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth;
And [p]branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword,
And your [q]mighty in the war.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 3:1 Every support
- Isaiah 3:3 Eminent looking men
- Isaiah 3:4 boys
- Isaiah 3:4 Or capricious ones
- Isaiah 3:5 aged
- Isaiah 3:5 despised, lightly esteemed
- Isaiah 3:6 Lit. hand
- Isaiah 3:11 done to him
- Isaiah 3:12 lead you astray
- Isaiah 3:13 contend, plead His case
- Isaiah 3:14 burned
- Isaiah 3:16 Head held high
- Isaiah 3:16 seductive, ogling
- Isaiah 3:16 tripping or skipping
- Isaiah 3:18 headbands
- Isaiah 3:24 burning scar
- Isaiah 3:25 Lit. strength
Isaiah 3
New American Standard Bible
Isaiah 3
New American Standard Bible
God Will Remove the Leaders
3 For behold, the Lord [a]God of armies (A)is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah
Both supply and support, the entire supply of bread
And the entire supply of water;
2 (B)The mighty man and the warrior,
The judge and the prophet,
The diviner and the elder,
3 The captain of fifty and the esteemed person,
The counselor and the expert artisan,
And the skillful enchanter.
4 And I will make mere (C)boys their leaders,
And [b]mischievous children will rule over them,
5 And the people will be (D)oppressed,
Each one by another, and each one by his (E)neighbor;
The youth will assault the elder,
And the contemptible person will assault the one honored.
6 When a man (F)lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying,
“You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler!
And these ruins will be under your [c]authority,”
7 He will [d]protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be your [e](G)healer,
For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
You should not appoint me ruler of the people.”
8 For (H)Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
Because their [f](I)speech and their actions are against the Lord,
To (J)rebel against [g]His glorious presence.
9 [h]The expression of their faces testifies against them,
And they [i]display their sin like (K)Sodom;
They do not even conceal it.
Woe to [j]them!
For they have (L)done evil to themselves.
10 Say to the (M)righteous that it will go well for them,
For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly for him,
For [k](N)what he deserves will be done to him.
12 My people! Their oppressors (O)treat them violently,
And women rule over them.
My people! (P)Those who guide you lead you astray
And confuse the direction of your paths.
God Will Judge
13 (Q)The Lord arises to contend,
And stands to judge the people.
14 The Lord (R)enters into judgment with the elders and leaders of His people,
“It is you who have [l](S)devoured the vineyard;
The (T)goods stolen from the poor are in your houses.
15 What do you mean by (U)crushing My people
And [m]oppressing the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord [n]God of armies.
Judah’s Women Denounced
16 Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the (V)daughters of Zion are haughty
And walk with [o]heads held high and seductive eyes,
And go along with mincing steps
And jingle the anklets on their feet,
17 The Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs,
And the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”
18 On that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, (W)crescent ornaments, 19 dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, 20 (X)headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, 21 [p]finger rings, (Y)nose rings, 22 festive robes, outer garments, shawls, purses, 23 papyrus garments, undergarments, headbands, and veils.
24 Now it will come about that instead of (Z)balsam oil there will be a stench;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of (AA)well-set hair, a (AB)plucked-out scalp;
Instead of fine clothes, a (AC)robe of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men will (AD)fall by the sword
And your [q]mighty ones in battle.
26 And her [r](AE)gates will lament and mourn,
And she will (AF)sit deserted on the ground.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 3:1 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 3:4 Or arbitrary power will rule
- Isaiah 3:6 Lit hand
- Isaiah 3:7 Lit lift up his voice
- Isaiah 3:7 Lit binder of wounds
- Isaiah 3:8 Lit tongue
- Isaiah 3:8 Lit the eyes of His glory
- Isaiah 3:9 Or Their partiality testifies
- Isaiah 3:9 Lit proclaim
- Isaiah 3:9 Lit their soul
- Isaiah 3:11 Lit the accomplishment of his hands
- Isaiah 3:14 Lit grazed over
- Isaiah 3:15 Lit grinding the face of
- Isaiah 3:15 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 3:16 Lit outstretched necks
- Isaiah 3:21 Or signet rings
- Isaiah 3:25 Lit strength
- Isaiah 3:26 Lit entrances
Isaiah 3
New Century Version
Isaiah 3
New Century Version
God Will Punish Judah and Jerusalem
3 Understand this:
The Lord God All-Powerful
will take away everything Judah and Jerusalem need—
all the food and water,
2 the heroes and great soldiers,
the judges and prophets,
people who do magic and elders,
3 the military leaders and government leaders,
the counselors, the skilled craftsmen, and those who try to tell the future.
4 The Lord says, “I will cause young boys to be your leaders,
and foolish children will rule over you.
5 People will be against each other; everyone will be against his neighbor.
Young people will not respect older people,
and common people will not respect important people.”
6 At that time a man will grab one of his brothers
from his own family and say,
“You have a coat, so you will be our leader.
These ruins will be under your control.”
7 But that brother will stand up and say,
“I cannot help you,
because I do not have food or clothes in my house.
You will not make me your leader.”
8 This will happen because Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen.
The things they say and do are against the Lord;
they turn against him.
9 The look on their faces shows they are guilty;
like the people of Sodom, they are proud of their sin.
They don’t care who sees it.
How terrible it will be for them,
because they have brought much trouble on themselves.
10 Tell those who do what is right that things will go well for them,
because they will receive a reward for what they do.
11 But how terrible it will be for the wicked!
They will be punished for all the wrong they have done.
12 Children treat my people cruelly,
and women rule over them.
My people, your guides lead you in the wrong way
and turn you away from what is right.
13 The Lord takes his place in court
and stands to judge the people.
14 The Lord presents his case
against the elders and other leaders of his people:
“You have burned the vineyard.
Your houses are full of what you took from the poor.
15 What gives you the right to crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor into the dirt?”
The Lord God All-Powerful says this.
A Warning to Women of Jerusalem
16 The Lord says,
“The women of Jerusalem are proud.
They walk around with their heads held high,
and they flirt with their eyes.
They take quick, short steps,
making noise with their ankle bracelets.”
17 So the Lord will put sores on the heads of those women in Jerusalem,
and he will make them lose their hair.
18 At that time the Lord will take away everything that makes them proud: their beautiful ankle bracelets, their headbands, their necklaces shaped like the moon, 19 their earrings, bracelets, and veils, 20 their scarves, ankle chains, the cloth belts worn around their waists, their bottles of perfume, and charms, 21 their signet rings, nose rings, 22 their fine robes, capes, shawls, and purses, 23 their mirrors, linen dresses, turbans, and long shawls.
24 Instead of wearing sweet-smelling perfume, they will stink.
Instead of fine cloth belts, they will wear the ropes of captives.
Instead of having their hair fixed in fancy ways, they will be bald.
Instead of fine clothes, they will wear clothes of sadness.
Instead of being beautiful, they will wear the brand of a captive.
25 At that time your men will be killed with swords,
and your heroes will die in war.
26 There will be crying and sadness near the city gates.
Jerusalem will be like a woman who has lost everything and sits on the ground.
Isaiah 3
The Message
Isaiah 3
The Message
Jerusalem on Its Last Legs
3 1-7 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
is emptying Jerusalem and Judah
Of all the basic necessities,
plain bread and water to begin with.
He’s withdrawing police and protection,
judges and courts,
pastors and teachers,
captains and generals,
doctors and nurses,
and, yes, even the repairmen and jacks-of-all-trades.
He says, “I’ll put little kids in charge of the city.
Schoolboys and schoolgirls will order everyone around.
People will be at each other’s throats,
stabbing one another in the back:
Neighbor against neighbor, young against old,
the no-account against the well-respected.
One brother will grab another and say,
‘You look like you’ve got a head on your shoulders.
Do something!
Get us out of this mess.’
And he’ll say, ‘Me? Not me! I don’t have a clue.
Don’t put me in charge of anything.’
8-9 “Jerusalem’s on its last legs.
Judah is soon down for the count.
Everything people say and do
is at cross-purposes with God,
a slap in my face.
Brazen in their depravity,
they flaunt their sins like degenerate Sodom.
Doom to their eternal souls! They’ve made their bed;
now they’ll sleep in it.
10-11 “Reassure the righteous
that their good living will pay off.
But doom to the wicked! Disaster!
Everything they did will be done to them.
12 “Skinny kids terrorize my people.
Silly girls bully them around.
My dear people! Your leaders are taking you down a blind alley.
They’re sending you off on a wild-goose chase.”
A City Brought to Her Knees by Her Sorrows
13-15 God enters the courtroom.
He takes his place at the bench to judge his people.
God calls for order in the court,
hauls the leaders of his people into the dock:
“You’ve played havoc with this country.
Your houses are stuffed with what you’ve stolen from the poor.
What is this anyway? Stomping on my people,
grinding the faces of the poor into the dirt?”
That’s what the Master,
God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says.
16-17 God says, “Zion women are stuck-up,
prancing around in their high heels,
Making eyes at all the men in the street,
swinging their hips,
Tossing their hair,
gaudy and garish in cheap jewelry.”
The Master will fix it so those Zion women
will all turn bald—
Scabby, bald-headed women.
The Master will do it.
18-23 The time is coming when the Master will strip them of their fancy baubles—the dangling earrings, anklets and bracelets, combs and mirrors and silk scarves, diamond brooches and pearl necklaces, the rings on their fingers and the rings on their toes, the latest fashions in hats, exotic perfumes and aphrodisiacs, gowns and capes, all the world’s finest in fabrics and design.
24 Instead of wearing seductive scents,
these women are going to smell like rotting cabbages;
Instead of modeling flowing gowns,
they’ll be sporting rags;
Instead of their stylish hairdos,
scruffy heads;
Instead of beauty marks,
scabs and scars.
25-26 Your finest fighting men will be killed,
your soldiers left dead on the battlefield.
The entrance gate to Zion will be clotted
with people mourning their dead—
A city stooped under the weight of her loss,
brought to her knees by her sorrows.
* * *
Isaiah 3
New International Version
Isaiah 3
New International Version
Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah
3 See now, the Lord,
the Lord Almighty,
is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah
both supply and support:(A)
all supplies of food(B) and all supplies of water,(C)
2 the hero and the warrior,(D)
the judge and the prophet,
the diviner(E) and the elder,(F)
3 the captain of fifty(G) and the man of rank,(H)
the counselor, skilled craftsman(I) and clever enchanter.(J)
4 “I will make mere youths their officials;
children will rule over them.”(K)
5 People will oppress each other—
man against man, neighbor against neighbor.(L)
The young will rise up against the old,
the nobody against the honored.
6 A man will seize one of his brothers
in his father’s house, and say,
“You have a cloak, you be our leader;
take charge of this heap of ruins!”
7 But in that day(M) he will cry out,
“I have no remedy.(N)
I have no food(O) or clothing in my house;
do not make me the leader of the people.”(P)
8 Jerusalem staggers,
Judah is falling;(Q)
their words(R) and deeds(S) are against the Lord,
defying(T) his glorious presence.
9 The look on their faces testifies(U) against them;
they parade their sin like Sodom;(V)
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
They have brought disaster(W) upon themselves.
10 Tell the righteous it will be well(X) with them,
for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.(Y)
11 Woe to the wicked!(Z)
Disaster(AA) is upon them!
They will be paid back(AB)
for what their hands have done.(AC)
12 Youths(AD) oppress my people,
women rule over them.
My people, your guides lead you astray;(AE)
they turn you from the path.
13 The Lord takes his place in court;(AF)
he rises to judge(AG) the people.
14 The Lord enters into judgment(AH)
against the elders and leaders of his people:
“It is you who have ruined my vineyard;
the plunder(AI) from the poor(AJ) is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people(AK)
and grinding(AL) the faces of the poor?”(AM)
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.(AN)
16 The Lord says,
“The women of Zion(AO) are haughty,
walking along with outstretched necks,(AP)
flirting with their eyes,
strutting along with swaying hips,
with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
17 Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion;
the Lord will make their scalps bald.(AQ)”
18 In that day(AR) the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces,(AS) 19 the earrings and bracelets(AT) and veils,(AU) 20 the headdresses(AV) and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, 21 the signet rings and nose rings,(AW) 22 the fine robes and the capes and cloaks,(AX) the purses 23 and mirrors, and the linen garments(AY) and tiaras(AZ) and shawls.
24 Instead of fragrance(BA) there will be a stench;(BB)
instead of a sash,(BC) a rope;
instead of well-dressed hair, baldness;(BD)
instead of fine clothing, sackcloth;(BE)
instead of beauty,(BF) branding.(BG)
25 Your men will fall by the sword,(BH)
your warriors in battle.(BI)
26 The gates(BJ) of Zion will lament and mourn;(BK)
destitute,(BL) she will sit on the ground.(BM)
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Century Version (NCV)
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.