Isaiah 3

¹ For the Lord, the Lord of armies, is about to take away from Jerusalem and from Judah all their support; their store of bread and of water;

² The strong man and the man of war; the judge and the prophet; the man who has knowledge of secret arts, and the man who is wise because of his years;

³ The captain of fifty, and the man of high position, and the wise guide, and the wonder-worker, and he who makes use of secret powers.

⁴ And I will make children their chiefs, and foolish ones will have rule over them.

⁵ And the people will be crushed, every one by his neighbour; the young will be full of pride against the old, and those of low position will be lifted up against the noble.

⁶ When one man puts his hand on another in his father’s house, and says, You have clothing, be our ruler and be responsible for us in our sad condition:

⁷ Then he will say with an oath, I will not be a helper, for in my house there is no bread or clothing: I will not let you make me a ruler of the people.

⁸ For Jerusalem has become feeble, and destruction has come on Judah, because their words and their acts are against the Lord, moving the eyes of his glory to wrath.

⁹ Their respect for a man’s position is a witness against them; and their sin is open to the view of all; like that of Sodom, it is not covered. A curse on their soul! for the measure of their sin is full.

¹⁰ Happy is the upright man! for he will have joy of the fruit of his ways.

¹¹ Unhappy is the sinner! for the reward of his evil doings will come on him.

¹² As for my people, their ruler is acting like a child, and those who have authority over them are women. O my people, your guides are the cause of your wandering, turning your footsteps out of the right way.

¹³ The Lord is ready to take up his cause against his people, and is about to come forward as their judge.

¹⁴ The Lord comes to be the judge of their responsible men and of their rulers: it is you who have made waste the vine-garden, and in your houses is the property of the poor which you have taken by force.

¹⁵ By what right are you crushing my people, and putting a bitter yoke on the necks of the poor? This is the word of the Lord, the Lord of armies.

¹⁶ Again, the Lord has said, Because the daughters of Zion are full of pride, and go with outstretched necks and wandering eyes, with their foot-chains sounding when they go:

¹⁷ The Lord will send disease on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will let their secret parts be seen.

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will take away the glory of their foot-rings, and their sun-jewels, and their moon-ornaments,

¹⁹ The ear-rings, and the chains, and the delicate clothing,

²⁰ The head-bands, and the arm-chains, and the worked bands, and the perfume-boxes, and the jewels with secret powers,

²¹ The rings, and the nose-jewels,

²² The feast-day dresses, and the robes, and the wide skirts, and the handbags,

²³ The looking-glasses, and the fair linen, and the high head-dresses, and the veils.

²⁴ And in the place of sweet spices will be an evil smell, and for a fair band a thick cord; for a well-dressed head there will be the cutting-off of the hair, and for a beautiful robe there will be the clothing of sorrow; the mark of the prisoner in place of the ornaments of the free.

²⁵ Your men will be put to the sword, and your men of war will come to destruction in the fight.

²⁶ And in the public places of her towns will be sorrow and weeping; and she will be seated on the earth, waste and uncovered.