Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

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;
(C)The mighty man and the man of war,
The judge and the prophet,
And the diviner and the elder;
The captain of fifty and the [b]honorable man,
The counselor and the skillful artisan,
And the expert enchanter.

“I will give (D)children[c] to be their princes,
And [d]babes shall rule over them.
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.”

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,”
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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 3:1 Every support
  2. Isaiah 3:3 Eminent looking men
  3. Isaiah 3:4 boys
  4. Isaiah 3:4 Or capricious ones
  5. Isaiah 3:5 aged
  6. Isaiah 3:5 despised, lightly esteemed
  7. Isaiah 3:6 Lit. hand

For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole store of bread and the whole store of water,

the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the prudent and the ancient,

the captain of fifty and the honorable man, and the counselor and the skilled artificer and the eloquent orator.

“And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another and every one by his neighbor; the child shall behave himself proudly against the elder, and the base against the honorable.”

When a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, “Thou hast clothing; be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand,”

in that day he shall swear, saying, “I will not be a healer, for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: Make me not a ruler of the people!”

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