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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 3:1 Hebrew staff
  2. Isaiah 3:4 Or caprice
  3. Isaiah 3:7 Hebrew binder of wounds

Judgment Comes to Judah’s Leaders

“Note this! The Lord God of the Heavenly Armies
    is taking away from Jerusalem and Judah
        everything that your society needs—[a]
all food supplies
    and all water supplies,
the mighty man
    and the warrior,
the judge
    and the prophet,
the fortune-teller
    and the elder,
the commander of fifty
    and the man of rank,
and the counselor, the expert magician,
    and the medium.

“I will make youths their princes,
    and infants will rule over them.
People will oppress one another—
    It will be man against man
        and neighbor against neighbor.
The young will be disrespectful to the old,
    and the worthless to the honorable.

“For a man will grab his brother
    in his own father’s house,
and say, ‘You have a cloak,
    so you be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
    will be under your rule!’

“But[b] at that time,[c] he’ll protest![d]
    He’ll say, ‘I won’t be your healer.
I have neither food nor clothing in my house!
    You’re not going to make me a leader of the people!’

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 3:1 Lit. Judah both supply and support
  2. Isaiah 3:7 So 1QIsaa LXX; the Heb. lacks But
  3. Isaiah 3:7 Lit. day
  4. Isaiah 3:7 Lit. he’ll cry out