Isaiah 3
1 For lo! the lordli gouernour, the Lord of oostis, schal take awei fro Jerusalem and fro Juda a myyti man, and strong, and al the strengthe of breed, and al the strengthe of watir;
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.
2 a strong man, and a man a werriour, and a domesman, and a profete, and a false dyuynour in auteris, and an elde man,
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,
3 a prince ouer fifti men, and a worschipful man in cheer, and a counselour, and a wijs man of principal crafti men, and a prudent man of mystik, ethir goostli, speche.
army officers and [other] officials, advisors and skilled craftsmen and those who perform rituals to predict the future.
4 And Y schal yyue children the princes of hem, and men of wymmens condiciouns schulen be lordis of hem.
He will appoint boys to be your leaders; your children will rule you.
5 And the puple schal falle doun, a man to a man, ech man to his neiybore; a child schal make noyse ayens an eld man, and an vnnoble man ayens a noble man.
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.
6 For a man schal take his brother, the meneal of his fadir, and schal seie, A clooth is to thee, be thou oure prince; forsothe this fallyng be vndur thin hond.
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!”
7 And he schal answere in that dai, and seie, Y am no leche, and nether breed, nether cloth is in myn hous; nyle ye make me prince of the puple.
[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!”
8 For whi Jerusalem felle doun, and Juda felle doun togidere; for the tunge of hem, and the fyndingis of hem weren ayens the Lord, for to terre to wraththe the iyen of his mageste.
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.
9 The knowyng of her cheer schal answere to hem; and thei prechiden her synne, as Sodom dide, and hidden not. Wo to the soule of hem, for whi yuels ben yoldun to hem.
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.
10 Seie ye to the iust man, that it schal be to hym wel; for he schal ete the fruyt of hise fyndyngis.
[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.
11 Wo to the wickid man in to yuel; for whi the yeldyng of hise hondis schal be maad to hym.
[But] terrible things will happen to wicked people; they will be (paid back/punished) for [the evil things that] [MTY] they have done.
12 The wrongful axeris of my puple robbiden it, and wymmen weren lordis therof. Mi puple, thei that seien thee blessid, disseyuen thee, and distrien the weie of thi steppis.
[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].
13 The Lord stondith for to deme, and `the Lord stondith for to deme puplis;
[It is as though] Yahweh has sat in his place in a courtroom and is ready to judge his people.
14 the Lord schal come to doom, with the eldere men of his puple, and with hise princes; for ye han wastid my vyner, and the raueyn of a pore man is in youre hous.
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.
15 Whi al to-breken ye my puple, and grynden togidere the faces of pore men? seith the Lord God of oostis.
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.
16 And the Lord God seide, For that that the douytris of Syon weren reisid, and yeden with a necke stretchid forth, and yeden bi signes of iyen, and flappiden with hondis, and yeden, and with her feet yeden in wel araied goyng,
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.
17 the Lord schal make ballyd the nol of the douytris of Sion, and the Lord schal make nakid the heer of hem.
So I, Yahweh, will cause sores to be on their heads, and I will cause those beautiful women in Jerusalem to become bald.”
18 In that dai the Lord schal take awei the ournement of schoon, and goldun litle bellis lijk the moone,
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,
19 and ribans, and brochis, and ournementis of armes nyy the schuldris, and mytris, ether chapelettis,
their earrings and bracelets and veils,
20 and coombis, and ournementis of armes niy the hondis, and goldun ourenementis lijk laumpreis, and litil vessels of oynementis,
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),
21 and eere ryngis, and ryngis, and preciouse stoonys hangynge in the forheed,
their signet rings and nose rings,
22 and chaungynge clothis, and mentils, and schetis, ether smockis, and needlis,
their nice robes and capes and cloaks and purses,
23 and myrouris, and smal lynun clothis aboute the schuldris, and kercheues, and roketis.
their mirrors and nice linen clothes and shawls.
24 And stynk shal be for swete odour, and a corde for the girdil; ballidnesse schal be for crispe heer, and an heire for a brest girdil.
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.
25 Also thi faireste men schulen falle bi swerd, and thi stronge men schulen falle in batel.
Their husbands will be killed by [their enemies’] swords, and their soldiers [will also die] in battles.
26 And the yatis therof schulen weile, and morene; and it schal sitte desolat in erthe.
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.
