Isaiah 3
1 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:
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,
2 Man of might and man of war, —Judge and prophet And diviner and elder;
their strong fighters and soldiers, leaders and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders,
3 Captain of fifty, and favourite; And counsellor and skilled artificer, And master of magical formulas;
army captains, state officials, counselors, craftsmen, masters of magic, and experts in the occult.
4 And I will appoint boys to be their princes, —And, petulant children, shall rule over them,
I will give them boys as their leaders who will rule over them in childish ways.
5 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,
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.
6 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,
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!”
7 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!
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!”
8 For stumbled hath Jerusalem, and, Judah, hath fallen, —Because, their tongue and their doings, are against Yahweh, Provoking his glorious presence,
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.
9 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.
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.
10 Say ye to the righteous It is well! For the fruit of their doings, shall they eat:
Tell those who live right that they will be fine, for they will be happy to receive the reward for what they have done.
11 Alas! for the lawless, it is ill, For what his own hand hath matured, shall be done to him.
But tragedy comes to the wicked, for what they did will be done to them.
12 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,
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.
13 Yahweh hath taken his station to plead, —And is standing to judge peoples:
The Lord stands up to prosecute his case. The Lord stands up to judge the people.
14 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.
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.
15 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—
Why have you crushed my people? Why have you ground the faces of the poor into the dirt? the Lord Almighty demands to know.
16 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,
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.
17 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!
So the Lord will make their heads full of scabs, and the Lord will expose their private parts.
18 In that day, will My Lord remove the finery—of the anklets, and the little suns and the little moons;
At that time the Lord will remove their fine ornaments: ankle bracelets, headbands, crescent necklaces,
19 the pendants and the bracelets and the veils;
pendant earrings, bracelets, veils,
20 the chaplets and the armlets and the girdles, and the scent-cases, and the amulets;
headdresses, bangles, sashes, perfume holders, lucky charms,
21 the rings and the nose-jewels;
rings, nose rings,
22 the robes, and the over-tunics, and the cloaks and the purses;
festival clothes, gowns, cloaks, handbags,
23 and the mirrors and the linen wraps, and the tiaras and the cloaks.
hand mirrors, fine linen underwear, head wraps, and shawls.
24 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:
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.
25 Thy males, by the sword shall fall, —And, thy mighty men, by the war;
Your men will be killed by the sword; your soldiers will die in battle.
26 And her gates shall mourn and lament, —And forsaken, on the ground, shall she sit.
The gates of Zion will cry and mourn. The city will be like a banished woman sitting on the ground.
