Isaiah 3

1 The Commander of the armies of angels is about to take away from Jerusalem and [other places in] Judea everything that you depend on— all your food and 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 He will take away your heroes and your [other] soldiers, your judges and your prophets, people who do rituals to find out what will happen in the future and the elders,

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

3 army officers and [other] officials, advisors and skilled craftsmen and those who perform rituals to predict the future.

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

4 He will appoint boys to be your leaders; your children will rule you.

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

5 People will treat each other cruelly: people will fight against their neighbors. Young people will insult older people, and vulgar/dishonorable people will sneer at people who should be honored.

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

6 At that time, someone will grab one of his brothers in his father’s house and say to him, “You have a coat, [which shows that you are respected]. [So] you be our leader! You rule this [city, which is now] a 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] his brother will reply, “[No], I cannot help you, [because] I do not have [any extra] food or clothes in this house. [So] do not appoint me to be 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 Jerusalem and [the other towns in] Judah will be destroyed, because [everything] that the people do and say there opposes Yahweh, who is powerful and glorious, and they refuse to obey him. They rebel against him.

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

9 They even show on their faces that [they oppose Yahweh]. They are proud of their sins, like [the people of] Sodom were [long ago]; they do not try to hide their sins. [Because of their sins], terrible things will happen to them, [but] they will bring those disasters on 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 [Yahweh told me to] tell the righteous people that good things will happen to them; they will enjoy the blessings that they will receive for their good deeds.

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] terrible things will happen to wicked people; they will be (paid back/punished) for [the evil things that] [MTY] they have done.

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

12 [Now], youths [who have become leaders] treat my people cruelly, and women rule over my people. My people, your leaders are misleading you; they are causing you to go down the wrong road [MET].

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 [It is as though] Yahweh has sat in his place in a courtroom and is ready to judge his people.

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

14 He will stand up to declare why the elders and rulers of his people should be punished: [he says], “The people of Israel are [like] [MET] a vineyard that I planted, but you have ruined it! Your houses are full of things that you have stolen from poor people.

The Lord himself shall enter into judgment 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 You should stop [RHQ] crushing my people! [It is as though] you are pushing the faces of poor people into the dirt!” [That is what] the Commander of the armies of angels says.

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

16 Yahweh says this: “The women of Jerusalem are haughty/proud; they walk around sticking their chins out, and flirting [with men] with their eyes. They walk with tiny steps with bracelets on their ankles that jingle.

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 I, Yahweh, will cause sores to be on their heads, and I will cause those beautiful women in Jerusalem to become bald.”

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

18 At the time [that Yahweh does that], he will strip away everything that the women of Jerusalem wear to make themselves beautiful—the ornaments on their ankles and their headbands, their crescent necklaces,

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

19 their earrings and bracelets and veils,

and the chains, and the ornaments of their faces,

20 their scarves and ankle bracelets and sashes, their perfumes and (charms/little things that they wear thinking that those things will protect them from evil),

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 their signet rings and 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 their nice robes and capes and cloaks and purses,

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 their mirrors and nice linen clothes 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 Instead of their having a nice smell from perfume, they will stink; instead of nice sashes, they will have ropes [around their waists because they will be captives]. Instead of having fancy hairdos, they will be bald. Instead of fancy/beautiful robes, they will wear rough sackcloth, and instead of being beautiful, they will be branded.

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

25 Their husbands will be killed by [their enemies’] swords, and their soldiers [will also die] in battles.

26 People [PRS] will mourn and cry at the gates [of the city]. The city will [be like] [MET] a woman who sits on the ground because everything that she owned is gone.