Isaiah 3
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Will Judge Judah’s Leaders
3 For behold, the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, (A)is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah
Both [a]supply and support, the whole [b]supply of bread
And the whole [c]supply of water,
2 (B)The mighty man and the man of war,
The judge and the prophet,
The diviner and the elder,
3 The commander of fifty and the [d]highly respected man,
The counselor and the wise craftsman,
And the experienced enchanter.
4 And I will make (C)young men their princes,
And [e]capricious 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 overwhelm the elder
And the dishonorable against the honorable.
6 When a man (F)grasps his brother in his father’s house, saying,
“You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler,
And these ruins will be under your hand,”
7 He will [f]protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be your [g](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 (I)tongue and their deeds are against Yahweh,
To (J)rebel against [h]His glorious presence.
9 [i]The expression of their faces answers against them,
And they declare their sin like (K)Sodom;
They do not even conceal it.
Woe to their soul!
For they have (L)dealt out evil on themselves.
10 Say to the (M)righteous that it will go well with them,
For they will eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
For [j](N)what he has dealt out will be done to him.
12 O My people! Their taskmasters [k]are (O)infants,
And women rule over them.
O My people! (P)Those who guide you lead you astray
And swallow up the way of your paths.
13 (Q)Yahweh takes His stand to contend,
And stands to judge the peoples.
14 Yahweh (R)enters into judgment with the elders of His people and His princes,
“It is you who have (S)consumed the vineyard;
The (T)plunder robbed of the afflicted is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by (U)crushing My people
And grinding the face of the afflicted?”
Declares Lord Yahweh of hosts.
Yahweh Will Judge Zion’s Daughters
16 Moreover, Yahweh said, “Because the (V)daughters of Zion are haughty
And walk with outstretched necks and seductive eyes,
And go along with mincing steps
And tinkle the bangles on their feet,
17 Therefore the Lord will smite the skull of the daughters of Zion with scabs,
And Yahweh will make their foreheads bare.”
18 In that day the Lord will remove the beauty of their anklets, headbands, (W)crescent ornaments, 19 dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, 20 (X)headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, enchanted charms, 21 [l]finger rings, (Y)nose rings, 22 festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, 23 hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans, and shawls.
24 Now it will be that instead of [m]sweet (Z)perfume there will be the smell of rot;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of (AA)well-set hair, a (AB)plucked-out scalp;
Instead of fine clothes, a (AC)donning of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men will (AD)fall by the sword
And your [n]mighty ones in battle.
26 And her [o](AE)gates will lament and mourn,
And deserted she will (AF)sit on the ground.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 3:1 Lit staff
- Isaiah 3:1 Lit staff
- Isaiah 3:1 Lit staff
- Isaiah 3:3 Lit one whose face is lifted up
- Isaiah 3:4 Lit arbitrary power will rule
- Isaiah 3:7 Lit lift up his voice
- Isaiah 3:7 Lit binder of wounds
- Isaiah 3:8 Lit the eyes of His glory
- Isaiah 3:9 Or Their partiality
- Isaiah 3:11 Lit the dealing of his hands
- Isaiah 3:12 Or deal severely
- Isaiah 3:21 Or signet rings
- Isaiah 3:24 Or balsam oil
- Isaiah 3:25 Lit strength
- Isaiah 3:26 Lit entrances
Isaiah 3
Evangelical Heritage Version
Judgment on Jerusalem
3
Pay attention to this.
The Lord, the Lord of Armies, is about to remove from Jerusalem
and Judah
every kind of support:
the entire supply of bread,
and the entire supply of water,
2 the hero and the warrior,
the judge and the prophet,
the omen reader and the elder,
3 the commander of fifty and the respected leader,
the adviser and the clever practitioner of occult arts,
and the skillful caster of spells.[a]
4 I will give them young men as their officials,
and immature children[b] will rule over them.
5 The people will tyrannize each other,
man against man, neighbor against neighbor.
The young man will behave arrogantly against the elder,
and the dishonorable against the honorable.
6 Then a man will take hold of his brother in his father’s house and say, “You have fine clothing. You be our ruler. You take charge of these ruins.”
7 But in that day his brother will cry out, “I am not a healer.[c] In my house I have neither bread nor fine clothing. Don’t make me ruler of this people.”
8 Yes, Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen,
because their speech and their actions are against the Lord.
They defy his glorious presence.[d]
9 The look on their faces testifies against them.
They parade their sin like Sodom.
They do not bother to hide it.
How terrible it will be for them!
Look, they have brought disaster upon themselves.
10 Tell the righteous that it will go well for them,
and they will eat the fruit of their labors.
11 How terrible it will be for the wicked!
Disaster is coming upon them.
Yes, whatever they have done with their hands will be paid back to them.
12 As for my people, children will oppress them,[e]
and women will rule over them.
My people, your guides are leading you astray.
They are confusing you about the way you should go.
13 The Lord stands up to make his case.
He stands to judge the peoples.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and with their officials. He says, “It is you who have devoured the vineyard. The things you have stolen from the poor are in your houses. 15 What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor? declares the Lord, the Lord of Armies.”
Judgment on the Proud Women of Jerusalem
16 The Lord also says this. Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and they walk with their heads held high,[f] flirting with their eyes, walking seductively with quick little steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles, 17 the Lord will crown the heads of the daughters of Zion with scabs. The Lord will make their scalps bald.[g] 18 In that day the Lord will take away the beautiful anklets, the headbands, the crescent ornaments, 19 the earrings, the bracelets, the veils, 20 the headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the perfume bottles, the magic charms, 21 the signet rings, the nose rings, 22 the elegant dresses, the capes, the shawls, the purses, 23 the hand mirrors, the fine linen wraps, the tiaras, and the gowns.[h]
24 This is what will take place:
Instead of fragrant perfumes, there will be a stench,
instead of styled hair, baldness,
instead of a robe, a garment made of sackcloth,
and there will be branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men will fall by the sword,
and your mighty warriors in battle.
26 Her gates will groan and grieve,
and she will sit on the ground, deserted.
4 On that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing. Just let us be called by your name. Take away our shame.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 3:3 The difference between the various kinds of practitioners of occult arts is uncertain.
- Isaiah 3:4 Or troublemakers
- Isaiah 3:7 Literally binder of wounds
- Isaiah 3:8 Literally rebel against the eyes of his glory. Their actions are very brazen.
- Isaiah 3:12 Or oppressors treat my people cruelly. Literally the sentence reads my people, his oppressors, he deals severely. The word he deals severely may also be read as children. The reading children fits the parallelism and is used above.
- Isaiah 3:16 Literally with stretched necks
- Isaiah 3:17 Or expose their nakedness
- Isaiah 3:23 The precise meaning of many of these terms is uncertain. Translations vary widely.
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