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;

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; the man who has knowledge of secret arts, and the man who is wise because of his years;

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

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.

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

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

And I will appoint boys to be their princes, —And, petulant children, shall 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.

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 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:

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 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.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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.

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 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.

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 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:

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

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 the glory of their foot-rings, and their sun-jewels, and their moon-ornaments,

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

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

the pendants and the bracelets and the veils;

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

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

21 The rings, and the nose-jewels,

the rings and the nose-jewels;

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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