Isaiah 3–4

Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

3For behold, the ^sLord God of hosts

is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah

support and supply,¹

all ^tsupport of bread,

and all support of water;

^2uthe mighty man and the soldier,

the judge and the prophet,

the diviner and the elder,

³the captain of fifty

and the man of rank,

the counselor and the skillful magician

and the expert in charms.

^4vAnd I will make boys their princes,

and infants² shall rule over them.

^5wAnd the people will oppress one another,

every one his fellow

and every one his neighbor;

the youth will be insolent to the elder,

and the despised to the honorable.

⁶For ^xa man will take hold of his brother

in the house of his father, saying:

“You have a cloak;

you shall be our leader,

and this heap of ruins

shall be under your rule”;

⁷in that day he will speak out, saying:

“I will not be a ^yhealer;³

in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;

you shall not make me

leader of the people.”

⁸For Jerusalem has stumbled,

and Judah has fallen,

because their ^zspeech and their deeds are against the Lord,

^adefying his glorious presence.⁴

⁹For the look on their faces bears witness against them;

they proclaim their sin ^blike Sodom;

they do not hide it.

Woe to them!

^cFor they have brought evil on themselves.

^10dTell the righteous that it shall be well with them,

^efor they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

^11fWoe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,

for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

¹²My people—^ginfants are their oppressors,

and women rule over them.

O my people, ^hyour guides mislead you

and they have swallowed up⁵ the course of your paths.

¹³The Lord ⁱhas taken his place to contend;

he stands to judge peoples.

¹⁴The Lord will enter into judgment

with the ^jelders and princes of his people:

“It is you who ^khave devoured⁶ the vineyard,

^lthe spoil of the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵What do you mean by ^mcrushing my people,

by grinding the face of the poor?”

declares the Lord God of hosts.

¹⁶The Lord said:

ⁿBecause ^othe daughters of Zion are haughty

and walk with outstretched necks,

glancing wantonly with their eyes,

mincing along as they go,

^ptinkling with their feet,

¹⁷therefore the Lord ^qwill strike with a scab

the heads of ^othe daughters of Zion,

and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away ^rthe finery of the anklets, the ^sheadbands, and the ^tcrescents; ¹⁹the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; ²⁰the ^uheaddresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; ²¹the signet rings and ^vnose rings; ²²the ^wfestal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; ²³the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

²⁴Instead of ^xperfume there will be rottenness;

and instead of a ^ybelt, a rope;

and instead of ^zwell-set hair, ^abaldness;

and instead of a rich robe, a ^bskirt of sackcloth;

and ^cbranding instead of beauty.

²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword

and your mighty men in battle.

²⁶And ^dher gates shall lament and mourn;

empty, she shall ^esit on the ground.

4^fAnd seven women ^gshall take hold of ^fone man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; ^htake away our reproach.”

The Branch of the Lord Glorified

²In that day ⁱthe branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and ^jthe fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. ^3kAnd he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called ^lholy, everyone who has ^mbeen recorded for life in Jerusalem, ⁴when ⁿthe Lord shall have washed away the filth of ^othe daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by ^pa spirit of burning.^{1 5}Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies ^qa cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be ^ra canopy. ^6sThere will be a ^tbooth for shade by day from the heat, and ^ufor a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.