52 Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2; 1; 4:1–2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.
53 Heb “filled with.”
54 Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.
55 The pronoun is feminine singular; personified Jerusalem (see v. 21) is addressed.
56 Or “dross.” The word refers to the scum or impurites floating on the top of melted metal.
57 The metaphors of silver becoming impure and beer being watered down picture the moral and ethical degeneration that had occurred in Jerusalem.
58 Or “stubborn”; “have rejected me.”
59 Heb “and companions of” (so , ); “friends of crooks.”
60 Heb “pursue”; “chase after gifts.”
61 Isaiah may have chosen the word for gifts (שַׁלְמוֹנִים, shalmonim; a hapax legomena here), as a sarcastic pun on what these rulers should have been doing. Instead of attending to peace and wholeness (שָׁלוֹם, shalom), they sought after payoffs (שַׁלְמוֹנִים).
62 See the note at v. .
63 The rich oppressors referred to in Isaiah and the other eighth century prophets were not rich capitalists in the modern sense of the word. They were members of the royal military and judicial bureaucracies in Israel and Judah. As these bureaucracies grew, they acquired more and more land and gradually commandeered the economy and legal system. At various administrative levels bribery and graft become commonplace. The common people outside the urban administrative centers were vulnerable to exploitation in such a system, especially those, like widows and orphans, who had lost their family provider through death. Through confiscatory taxation, conscription, excessive interest rates, and other oppressive governmental measures and policies, they were gradually disenfranchised and lost their landed property, and with it, their rights as citizens. The socio-economic equilibrium envisioned in the law of Moses was radically disturbed.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

How the faithful city

has become a whore,

she who was full of justice!

Righteousness lodged in her,

but now murderers.

Your silver has become dross,

your best wine mixed with water.

Your princes are rebels

and companions of thieves.

Everyone loves a bribe

and runs after gifts.

They do not bring justice to the fatherless,

and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

Therefore the Lord declares,

the Lord of hosts,

the Mighty One of Israel:

“Ah, I will get relief from my enemies

and avenge myself on my foes.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

See how the faithful city

has become a prostitute!

She once was full of justice;

righteousness used to dwell in her—

but now murderers!

Your silver has become dross,

your choice wine is diluted with water.

Your rulers are rebels,

partners with thieves;

they all love bribes

and chase after gifts.

They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;

the widow’s case does not come before them.

Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,

the Mighty One of Israel, declares:

“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes

and avenge myself on my enemies.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The faithful town—

what an adulteress she has become!

She was once full of justice.

Righteousness once dwelt in her,

but now, murderers!

Your silver has become dross to be discarded,

your beer is diluted with water.

Your rulers are rebels,

friends of thieves.

They all love graft

and chase after bribes.

They do not defend the rights of the fatherless,

and the widow’s case never comes before them.

Therefore the Lord God of Armies,

the Mighty One of Israel, declares:

“Ah, I will get even with my foes;

I will take revenge against my enemies.

NLTNew Living Translation

See how Jerusalem, once so faithful,

has become a prostitute.

Once the home of justice and righteousness,

she is now filled with murderers.

Once like pure silver,

you have become like worthless slag.

Once so pure,

you are now like watered-down wine.

Your leaders are rebels,

the companions of thieves.

All of them love bribes

and demand payoffs,

but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans

or fight for the rights of widows.

Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,

the Mighty One of Israel, says,

“I will take revenge on my enemies

and pay back my foes!

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

How has a faithful city become like a whore?

Full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

Your silver has become as dross;

Your wine is diluted with waters.

Your princes are rebels

and companions of thieves.

Every one loves a bribe

and runs after gifts.

They do not defend the orphan

and the legal dispute of the widow does not come before them.

Therefore, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel:

“Ah, I will be relieved of my enemies,

and I will avenge myself on my foes.

KJV 1900King James Version

How is the faithful city become an harlot!

It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it;

But now murderers.

Thy silver is become dross,

Thy wine mixed with water:

Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves:

Every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards:

They judge not the fatherless,

Neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel,

Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries,

And avenge me of mine enemies:

Public Domain