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For now the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,
    is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
support and staff—
    all support of bread
    and all support of water—(A)
warrior and soldier,
    judge and prophet,
    diviner and elder,(B)
captain of fifty
    and dignitary,
counselor and skillful magician
    and expert enchanter.
And I will make youths their princes,
    and children shall rule over them.(C)
The people will be oppressed,
    everyone by another
    and everyone by a neighbor;
the youth will be insolent to the elder
    and the base to the honorable.(D)

Someone will seize a relative,
    a member of the clan, saying,
“You have a cloak;
    you shall be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
    shall be under your rule.”(E)
But the other will cry out on that day, saying,
“I will not be a healer;
    in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
you shall not make me
    leader of the people.”(F)

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Judgment against Judah

The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    will take away from Jerusalem and Judah
everything they depend on:
    every bit of bread
    and every drop of water,
all their heroes and soldiers,
    judges and prophets,
    fortune-tellers and elders,
army officers and high officials,
    advisers, skilled sorcerers, and astrologers.

I will make boys their leaders,
    and toddlers their rulers.
People will oppress each other—
    man against man,
    neighbor against neighbor.
Young people will insult their elders,
    and vulgar people will sneer at the honorable.

In those days a man will say to his brother,
“Since you have a coat, you be our leader!
    Take charge of this heap of ruins!”
But he will reply,
    “No! I can’t help.
I don’t have any extra food or clothes.
    Don’t put me in charge!”

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