Isaiah 3

1 Take a look! The Lord, the Lord Almighty, is going to take away from Jerusalem and from Judah everything they rely on—all their stocks of food and all means of supplying water,

Behold now, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judea the mighty man and mighty woman, the strength of bread, and the strength of water,

2 their strong fighters and soldiers, leaders and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders,

the great and mighty man, the warrior and the judge, and the prophet, and the counsellor, and the elder,

3 army captains, state officials, counselors, craftsmen, masters of magic, and experts in the occult.

the captain of fifty also, and the honourable counsellor, and the wise artificer, and the intelligent hearer.

4 I will give them boys as their leaders who will rule over them in childish ways.

And I will make youths their princes, and mockers shall have dominion over them.

5 People will mistreat one another, person against person, neighbor against neighbor; the young will assault the old, and the dregs of society will attack those who are reputable.

And the people shall fall, man upon man, and [every] man upon his neighbour: the child shall insult the elder man, and the base the honourable.

6 A man will grab hold of one of his brothers in their father's house, and tell him, “You've got a coat, you can be our leader! Take over the running of this pile of ruins!”

For a man shall lay hold of his brother, as one of his father's household, saying, You have raiment, be you our ruler, and let my meat be under you.

7 But immediately his brother will shout back, “No, not me! I can't take care of this family's problems. In my house I don't have food or clothes. Don't put me in charge as your leader!”

And he shall answer in that day, and say, I will not be your ruler; for I have no bread in my house, nor raiment: I will not be the ruler of this people.

8 For Jerusalem has collapsed and Judah has fallen because of what they said and did in opposition to the Lord, rebelling right in front of him.

For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judea has fallen, and their tongues [have spoken] with iniquity, disobedient [as they are] towards the Lord.

9 The look on their faces proves what they've done, proclaiming their sin just like Sodom—they don't even bother to try and hide it! Tragedy is coming to them! They have brought disaster down upon themselves.

Therefore now their glory has been brought low, and the shame of their countenance has withstood them, and they have proclaimed their sin as Sodom, and made it manifest.

10 Tell those who live right that they will be fine, for they will be happy to receive the reward for what they have done.

Woe to their soul, for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying against themselves, Let us bind the just, for he is burdensome to us: therefore shall they eat the fruits of their works.

11 But tragedy comes to the wicked, for what they did will be done to them.

Woe to the transgressor! evils shall happen to him according to the works of his hands.

12 Leaders who act in childish ways mistreat my people; women rule over them. My people, your leaders are misleading you, confusing you about which way to go.

O my people, your exactors strip you, and extortioners rule over you: O my people, they that pronounce you blesses lead you astray, and pervert the path of your feet.

13 The Lord stands up to prosecute his case. The Lord stands up to judge the people.

But now the Lord will stand up for judgement, and will enter into judgement with his people.

14 The Lord comes to give his judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: You are the ones who have destroyed my vineyard; your houses are full with everything you've stolen from the poor.

The Lord himself shall enter into judgement with the elders of the people, and with their rulers: but why have you set my vineyard on fire, and [why is] the spoil of the poor in your houses?

15 Why have you crushed my people? Why have you ground the faces of the poor into the dirt? the Lord Almighty demands to know.

Why do you wrong my people, and shame the face of the poor?

16 The Lord says, The women of Zion are so conceited, walking with their heads held high, giving flirty glances, tripping along with their ankle bracelets jingling.

Thus says the Lord, Because the daughters of Sion are haughty, and have walked with an outstretched neck, and with winking of the eyes, and motion of the feet, at the same time drawing their garments in trains, and at the same time sporting with their feet:

17 So the Lord will make their heads full of scabs, and the Lord will expose their private parts.

therefore the Lord will humble the chief daughters of Sion, and the Lord will expose their form in that day;

18 At that time the Lord will remove their fine ornaments: ankle bracelets, headbands, crescent necklaces,

and the Lord will take away the glory of their raiment, the curls and the fringes, and the crescents,

19 pendant earrings, bracelets, veils,

and the chains, and the ornaments of their faces,

20 headdresses, bangles, sashes, perfume holders, lucky charms,

and the array of glorious ornaments, and the armlets, and the bracelets, and the wreathed work, and the finger-rings, and the ornaments for the right hand,

21 rings, nose rings,

and the ear-rings, and the garments with scarlet borders, and the garments with purple grounds, and the shawls to be worn in the house, and the Spartan transparent dresses, and those made of fine linen, and the purple [ones], and the scarlet [ones], and the fine linen, interwoven with gold and purple, and the light coverings for couches.

22 festival clothes, gowns, cloaks, handbags,

And there shall be instead of a sweet smell, dust; and instead of a girdle, you shall gird yourself with a rope; and instead of a golden ornament for the head, you shall have baldness on account of your works; and instead of a tunic with a scarlet ground, you shall gird yourself with sackcloth.

23 hand mirrors, fine linen underwear, head wraps, and shawls.

And your most beautiful son whom you love shall fall by the sword; and your mighty men shall fall by the sword, and shall be brought low.

24 What will happen is that instead of smelling of perfume, she will stink. Instead of a wearing a sash, she will be tied with a rope. Instead of styled hair, she will be bald. Instead of fine clothes, she will wear sackcloth. Instead of looking beautiful, she will be shamed.

And the stores of your ornaments shall mourn, and you shall be left alone, and shall be levelled with the ground.

25 Your men will be killed by the sword; your soldiers will die in battle.

26 The gates of Zion will cry and mourn. The city will be like a banished woman sitting on the ground.