Isaiah 3:1–15

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.