Isaiah 3

1 For behold, the sovereign Lord of hosts will take away, from Jerusalem and from Judah, the powerful and the strong: all the strength from bread, and all the strength from water;

For lo! the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, removing from Jerusalem and from Judah, The stay and staff, —The whole stay of bread, And the whole stay of water:

2 the strong man, and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the seer and the elder;

Man of might and man of war, —Judge and prophet And diviner and elder;

3 the leader over fifty and the honorable in appearance; and the counselor, and the wise among builders, and the skillful in mystical speech.

Captain of fifty, and favourite; And counsellor and skilled artificer, And master of magical formulas;

4 And I will provide children as their leaders, and the effeminate will rule over them.

And I will appoint boys to be their princes, —And, petulant children, shall rule over them,

5 And the people will rush, man against man, and each one against his neighbor. The child shall rebel against the elder, and the ignoble against the noble.

And the people will, tyrannise, Every man over his fellow-man, And every man over his friend, —And they will rage The boy against, the elder, And the despised, against, the honourable,

6 For a man will apprehend his brother, from the household of his own father, saying: “The vestment is yours. Be our leader, but let this ruin be under your hand.”

When a man shall lay hold, on his brother of the house of his father, [saying] —Clothing, hast thou, Become thou our, ruler, This downfall, be under thy hand,

7 In that day, he will respond by saying: “I am not a healer, and there is no bread or vestment in my house. Do not choose to appoint me as a leader of the people.”

He will swear, in that day, saying—I will take no control, When in mine own house, is neither food nor clothing, —Ye must not set me for a ruler of people!

8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah has fallen, because their words and their plans are against the Lord, in order to provoke the eyes of his majesty.

For stumbled hath Jerusalem, and, Judah, hath fallen, —Because, their tongue and their doings, are against Yahweh, Provoking his glorious presence,

9 The acknowledgement of their countenance is their response. For they have proclaimed their own sin, like Sodom; and they have not concealed it. Woe to their souls! For evils are being repaid to them.

The show of their face, hath answered against them, And their sin—like Sodom, have they told, they have not concealed it. Alas for their souls! For they have requited to themselves, calamity.

10 Tell the just man that it is well, for he shall eat from the fruit from his own plans.

Say ye to the righteous It is well! For the fruit of their doings, shall they eat:

11 Woe to the impious man immersed in evil! For retribution will be given to him from his own hands.

Alas! for the lawless, it is ill, For what his own hand hath matured, shall be done to him.

12 As for my people, their oppressors have despoiled them, and women have ruled over them. My people, who call you blessed, the same are deceiving you and disrupting the path of your steps.

My people! children, are their tyrants, And, women, rule over them, —My people! they who should lead thee forward, are causing thee to stray, Thy pathways, have they destroyed,

13 The Lord stands for judgment, and he stands to judge the people.

Yahweh hath taken his station to plead, —And is standing to judge peoples:

14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people, and with their leaders. For you have been devouring the vineyard, and the plunder from the poor is in your house.

Yahweh, into judgment, will enter, With the elders of his people And their princes, —But ye, have consumed the vineyard, That which hath been robbed from the oppressed, is in your houses.

15 Why do you wear down my people, and grind up the faces of the poor, says the Lord, the God of hosts?

What right have ye to crush my people, And the faces of the oppressed, to grind? Demandeth My Lord Yahweh of hosts—And Yahweh saith—

16 And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion have been lifted up, and have walked with extended necks and winking eyes, because they have continued on, walking noisily and advancing with a pretentious stride,

Because haughty are the daughters of Zion, And they walk with neck thrown back, and wanton eyes, —Tripping along as they go, And with their feet, making, a tinkling sound,

17 the Lord will make the heads of the daughters of Zion bald, and the Lord will strip them of the locks of their hair.

Therefore will My Lord, smite with leprosy the crown of hair of the daughters of Zion, —And, as for Yahweh, their shame, will he lay bare!

18 In that day, the Lord will take away their decorative shoes,

In that day, will My Lord remove the finery—of the anklets, and the little suns and the little moons;

19 and the little moons and chains, and the necklaces and bracelets, and the hats,

the pendants and the bracelets and the veils;

20 and the ornaments for their hair, and the anklets, and the touches of myrrh and little bottles of perfumes, and the earrings,

the chaplets and the armlets and the girdles, and the scent-cases, and the amulets;

21 and the rings, and the jewels hanging on their foreheads,

the rings and the nose-jewels;

22 and the continual changes in appearance, and the short skirts, and the fine linens and embroidered cloths,

the robes, and the over-tunics, and the cloaks and the purses;

23 and the mirrors, and scarves, and ribbons, and their sparse clothing.

and the mirrors and the linen wraps, and the tiaras and the cloaks.

24 And in place of a sweet fragrance, there will be stench. And in place of a belt, there will be a rope. And in place of stylish hair, there will be baldness. And in place of a blouse, there will be haircloth.

And it shall come to pass—That instead of fragrance, a putrid odour, shall be, And instead of a girdle, an encircling rope, And instead of braided hair, baldness, And instead of a festal robe, a girding of sackcloth, Branding instead of beauty:

25 Likewise, your most handsome men will fall by the sword, and your strong men will fall in battle.

Thy males, by the sword shall fall, —And, thy mighty men, by the war;

26 And her gates will grieve and mourn. And she will sit on the ground, desolate.

And her gates shall mourn and lament, —And forsaken, on the ground, shall she sit.