5 Verse 3 reads literally, “All your leaders ran away, apart from a bow they were captured, all your found ones were captured together, to a distant place they fled.” J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [], 1:, n. 3) suggests that the lines of the verse are arranged chiastically; lines 1 and 4 go together, while lines 2 and 3 are parallel. To translate the lines in the order they appear in the Hebrew text is misleading to the English reader, who is likely unfamiliar with, or at least insensitive to, chiastic parallelism. Consequently, the translation above arranges the lines as follows: line 1 (Hebrew) = line 1 (in translation); line 2 (Hebrew) = line 4 (in translation); line 3 (Hebrew) = line 3 (in translation); line 4 (Hebrew) = line 2 (in translation).
6 Heb “all your found ones.” To achieve tighter parallelism (see “your leaders”) some prefer to emend the form to אַמִּיצַיִךְ (’ammitsayikh, “your strong ones”) or to נֶאֱמָצַיִךְ (ne’ematsayikh, “your strengthened ones”).
7 Heb “apart from [i.e., without] a bow they were captured”; cf. , “without the use of a bow.”
8 Heb “look away from me” (so , , ).
9 Heb “don’t hurry” (so ).
10 Heb “the daughter of my people.” “Daughter” is here used metaphorically to express the speaker’s emotional attachment to his people, as well as their vulnerability and weakness.
11 The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 12, 14, 15 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
12 Heb “For [there is] a day of panic, and trampling, and confusion for the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”
13 The traditional accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests that this phrase goes with what precedes.
14 The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Some take קִר (qir) as “wall” and interpret the verb to mean “tear down.” However, tighter parallelism (note the reference to crying for help in the next line) is achieved if one takes both the verb and noun from a root, attested in Ugaritic and Arabic, meaning “make a sound.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (), 1:, n. 5.
15 Perhaps “the hill” refers to the temple mount.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

All your leaders have fled together;

without the bow they were captured.

All of you who were found were captured,

though they had fled far away.

Therefore I said:

“Look away from me;

let me weep bitter tears;

do not labor to comfort me

concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

For the Lord God of hosts has a day

of tumult and trampling and confusion

in the valley of vision,

a battering down of walls

and a shouting to the mountains.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

All your leaders have fled together;

they have been captured without using the bow.

All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,

having fled while the enemy was still far away.

Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;

let me weep bitterly.

Do not try to console me

over the destruction of my people.”

The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day

of tumult and trampling and terror

in the Valley of Vision,

a day of battering down walls

and of crying out to the mountains.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

All your rulers have fled together,

captured without a bow.

All your fugitives were captured together;

they had fled far away.

Therefore I said,

“Look away from me! Let me weep bitterly!

Do not try to comfort me

about the destruction of my dear people.”

For the Lord God of Armies

had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion

in the Valley of Vision—

people shouting and crying to the mountains;

NLTNew Living Translation

All your leaders have fled.

They surrendered without resistance.

The people tried to slip away,

but they were captured, too.

That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep;

do not try to comfort me.

Let me cry for my people

as I watch them being destroyed.”

Oh, what a day of crushing defeat!

What a day of confusion and terror

brought by the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,

upon the Valley of Vision!

The walls of Jerusalem have been broken,

and cries of death echo from the mountainsides.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

All of your rulers have fled together without a bow;

all of you who were found were captured.

They were captured together;

they had fled far away.

Therefore I said,

“Look away from me,

let me weep bitterly;

you must not insist on comforting me

for the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

For the Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision,

a tearing down of walls and a cry for help to the mountains.

KJV 1900King James Version

All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers:

All that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.

Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly,

Labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.

For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity

By the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision,

Breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.

Public Domain