Isaiah 3

English Standard Version

Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

3 For behold, the ^(A)Lord God of hosts
    is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
support and supply,^[a]
    all ^(B)support of bread,
    and all support of water;
²^(C)the 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.
⁴^(D)And I will make boys their princes,
    and infants^[b] shall rule over them.
⁵^(E)And 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 ^(F)a 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 ^(G)healer;^[c]
    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 ^(H)speech and their deeds are against the Lord,
    ^(I)defying his glorious presence.^[d]

⁹For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
    they proclaim their sin ^(J)like Sodom;
    they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
    ^(K)For they have brought evil on themselves.
¹⁰^(L)Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
    ^(M)for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
¹¹^(N)Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
    for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
¹²My people—^(O)infants are their oppressors,
    and women rule over them.
O my people, ^(P)your guides mislead you
    and they have swallowed up^[e] the course of your paths.

¹³The Lord ^(Q)has taken his place to contend;
    he stands to judge peoples.
¹⁴The Lord will enter into judgment
    with the ^(R)elders and princes of his people:
“It is you who ^(S)have devoured^[f] the vineyard,
    ^(T)the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
¹⁵What do you mean by ^(U)crushing my people,
    by grinding the face of the poor?”
declares the Lord God of hosts.

¹⁶The Lord said:
^(V)Because ^(W)the daughters of Zion are haughty
    and walk with outstretched necks,
    glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
    ^(X)tinkling with their feet,
¹⁷therefore the Lord ^(Y)will strike with a scab
    the heads of ^(Z)the daughters of Zion,
    and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away ^(AA)the finery of the anklets, the ^(AB)headbands, and the ^(AC)crescents; ¹⁹the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; ²⁰the ^(AD)headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; ²¹the signet rings and ^(AE)nose rings; ²²the ^(AF)festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; ²³the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

²⁴Instead of ^(AG)perfume there will be rottenness;
    and instead of a ^(AH)belt, a rope;
and instead of ^(AI)well-set hair, ^(AJ)baldness;
    and instead of a rich robe, a ^(AK)skirt of sackcloth;
    and ^(AL)branding instead of beauty.
²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword
    and your mighty men in battle.
²⁶And ^(AM)her gates shall lament and mourn;
    empty, she shall ^(AN)sit on the ground.