Isaiah 3–4

Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

3For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,

^aTakes away from Jerusalem and from Judah

^bThe ¹stock and the store,

The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water;

^2cThe mighty man and the man of war,

The judge and the prophet,

And the diviner and the elder;

³The captain of fifty and the ²honorable man,

The counselor and the skillful artisan,

And the expert enchanter.

⁴“I will give ^dchildren ³to be their princes,

And ⁴babes shall rule over them.

⁵The people will be oppressed,

Every one by another and every one by his neighbor;

The child will be insolent toward the ⁵elder,

And the ⁶base toward the honorable.”

⁶When a man takes hold of his brother

In the house of his father, saying,

“You have clothing;

You be our ruler,

And let these ruins be under your ⁷power,”

⁷In that day he will protest, saying,

“I cannot cure your ills,

For in my house is neither food nor clothing;

Do not make me a ruler of the people.”

⁸For ^eJerusalem stumbled,

And Judah is fallen,

Because their tongue and their doings

Are against the Lord,

To provoke the eyes of His glory.

⁹The look on their countenance witnesses against them,

And they declare their sin as ^fSodom;

They do not hide it.

Woe to their soul!

For they have brought evil upon themselves.

¹⁰“Say to the righteous ^gthat it shall be well with them,

^hFor they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

¹¹Woe to the wicked! ⁱIt shall be ill with him,

For the reward of his hands shall be ⁸given him.

¹²As for My people, children are their oppressors,

And women rule over them.

O My people! ^jThose who lead you ⁹cause you to err,

And destroy the way of your paths.”

Oppression and Luxury Condemned

¹³The Lord stands up ^kto ¹plead,

And stands to judge the people.

¹⁴The Lord will enter into judgment

With the elders of His people

And His princes:

“For you have ²eaten up ^lthe vineyard;

The plunder of the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵What do you mean by ^mcrushing My people

And grinding the faces of the poor?”

Says the Lord God of hosts.

¹⁶Moreover the Lord says:

“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,

And walk with ³outstretched necks

And ⁴wanton eyes,

Walking and ⁵mincing as they go,

Making a jingling with their feet,

¹⁷Therefore the Lord will strike with ⁿa scab

The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,

And the Lord will ^ouncover their secret parts.”

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the finery:

The jingling anklets, the ⁶scarves, and the ^pcrescents;

¹⁹The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils;

²⁰The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands;

The perfume boxes, the charms,

²¹and the rings;

The nose jewels,

²²the festal apparel, and the mantles;

The outer garments, the purses,

²³and the mirrors;

The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.

²⁴And so it shall be:

Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench;

Instead of a sash, a rope;

Instead of well-set hair, ^qbaldness;

Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth;

And ⁷branding instead of beauty.

²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword,

And your ⁸mighty in the war.

^26rHer gates shall lament and mourn,

And she being desolate ^sshall sit on the ground.

4And ^ain that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying,

“We will ^beat our own food and wear our own apparel;

Only let us be called by your name,

To take away ^cour reproach.”

The Renewal of Zion

²In that day ^dthe Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious;

And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing

For those of Israel who have escaped.

³And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem ^ewill be called holy—everyone who is ^frecorded among the living in Jerusalem. ⁴When ^gthe Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the ¹blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, ⁵then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, ^ha cloud and smoke by day and ⁱthe shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a ²covering. ⁶And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, ^jfor a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.