Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

For behold, the (A)Lord God of hosts
    is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
support and supply,[a]
    all (B)support of bread,
    and all support of water;
(C)the mighty man and the soldier,
    the judge and the prophet,
    the diviner and the elder,
the captain of fifty
    and the man of rank,
the counselor and the skillful magician
    and the expert in charms.
(D)And I will make boys their princes,
    and infants[b] shall rule over them.
(E)And the people will oppress one another,
    every one his fellow
    and every one his neighbor;
the youth will be insolent to the elder,
    and the despised to the honorable.

For (F)a man will take hold of his brother
    in the house of his father, saying:
“You have a cloak;
    you shall be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
    shall be under your rule”;
in that day he will speak out, saying:
“I will not be a (G)healer;[c]
    in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
you shall not make me
    leader of the people.”
For Jerusalem has stumbled,
    and Judah has fallen,
because their (H)speech and their deeds are against the Lord,
    (I)defying his glorious presence.[d]

For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
    they proclaim their sin (J)like Sodom;
    they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
    (K)For they have brought evil on themselves.
10 (L)Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
    (M)for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 (N)Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
    for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
12 My people—(O)infants are their oppressors,
    and women rule over them.
O my people, (P)your guides mislead you
    and they have swallowed up[e] the course of your paths.

13 The Lord (Q)has taken his place to contend;
    he stands to judge peoples.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment
    with the (R)elders and princes of his people:
“It is you who (S)have devoured[f] the vineyard,
    (T)the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by (U)crushing my people,
    by grinding the face of the poor?”
declares the Lord God of hosts.

16 The Lord said:
(V)Because (W)the daughters of Zion are haughty
    and walk with outstretched necks,
    glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
    (X)tinkling with their feet,
17 therefore the Lord (Y)will strike with a scab
    the heads of (Z)the daughters of Zion,
    and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.

18 In that day the Lord will take away (AA)the finery of the anklets, the (AB)headbands, and the (AC)crescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the (AD)headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and (AE)nose rings; 22 the (AF)festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

24 Instead of (AG)perfume there will be rottenness;
    and instead of a (AH)belt, a rope;
and instead of (AI)well-set hair, (AJ)baldness;
    and instead of a rich robe, a (AK)skirt of sackcloth;
    and (AL)branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword
    and your mighty men in battle.
26 And (AM)her gates shall lament and mourn;
    empty, she shall (AN)sit on the ground.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 3:1 Hebrew staff
  2. Isaiah 3:4 Or caprice
  3. Isaiah 3:7 Hebrew binder of wounds
  4. Isaiah 3:8 Hebrew the eyes of his glory
  5. Isaiah 3:12 Or they have confused
  6. Isaiah 3:14 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5

Leaders of Judah and Jerusalem

For look, the Lord Yahweh of hosts is removing every source of support[a]
    from Jerusalem and from Judah:
all of the supplies of bread
    and all of the supplies of water,
mighty warrior and man of war,
    judge and prophet,
    and diviner and elder,
captain of fifty and the honorable men of rank,
    and counselor and skillful magicians and skillful enchanter.
And I will make boys their princes,
    and children shall rule over them.
And the people will be oppressed by each other[b]
    and a man by his neighbor.
The boy will act arrogantly toward the elder,
    and the dishonorable toward the honorable.
Indeed, a man will seize his brother
    in the house of his father:
You have a cloak;[c]
    you shall be a leader for us,
    and this heap of ruins shall be under your hand!”
He will lift up his voice on that day, saying,
“I will not be a healer;
    in my house there is no bread
        and there is no cloak.
    You shall not make me the leader of the people!”
For Jerusalem has stumbled,
    and Judah has fallen
because their speech and their deeds are against Yahweh,
    defying the eyes of his glory.
The look on their faces testifies against them
    and they declare their sin like Sodom;
        they do not hide it.
Woe to their soul!
    For they have dealt out evil to themselves.
10 Tell the innocent[d] that it is good
    for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 Woe to the wicked![e] It is bad!
    For what is done by his hands will be done to him.
12 My people—children are their oppressors,
    and women rule over them.
My people, your leaders are misleading you,
    and they confuse the course of your paths.
13 Yahweh takes his stand to conduct a legal case
    and takes his stand to judge the peoples.
14 Yahweh enters into judgment with the elders of his people and its princes.
“And you! You have devoured the vineyard;
    the spoil of the poor is in your houses!
15 Why[f] do you crush my people
    and grind the face of the poor?”

declares[g] the Lord Yahweh of hosts.

The Pride of Jerusalem’s Women

16 And Yahweh said: “Because[h] the daughters of Zion are haughty,
    and they walk with outstretched neck,
    and they give flirting glances with their eyes,
        mincing along as they go,[i]
    and with their feet they rattle their bangles,[j]
17 the Lord will make the heads[k] of the daughters of Zion scabby,
    and Yahweh will lay their foreheads bare.”
18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets
    and the headbands and the crescent necklaces,
19 the pendants and the bracelets and the veils,
20     the headdresses and the armlets and the sashes,
and the perfume boxes[l] and the amulets,
21     the signet rings and the nose rings,
22 the festal robes and the mantles,
    and the cloaks and the handbags,
23 and the mirrors and the linen garments,
    and the turbans and the wraps.
24 And this shall happen: There will be
    a stench instead of perfume,
and a rope instead of a sash,
    and baldness instead of a well-set hairdo,
and a clothing wrap of sackcloth instead of a rich robe,
    branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword,
    and your warriors in battle.
26 And her[m] gates shall lament and mourn,
    and she shall be banished;
        she shall sit upon the ground.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 3:1 Literally “supplies and supplies”
  2. Isaiah 3:5 Literally “man by man”
  3. Isaiah 3:6 Literally “a cloak for you”
  4. Isaiah 3:10 Singular
  5. Isaiah 3:11 Singular
  6. Isaiah 3:15 Literally “What to you”
  7. Isaiah 3:15 Literally “declaration of”
  8. Isaiah 3:16 There are two Hebrew words for “because” here
  9. Isaiah 3:16 Literally “they go walking and mincing along”
  10. Isaiah 3:16 Literally “they tinkle with their feet”
  11. Isaiah 3:17 Hebrew “head”
  12. Isaiah 3:20 Literally “houses of the breath”
  13. Isaiah 3:26 That is, Jerusalem’s