Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

¹For 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.

¹⁶The Lord said:

nBecause othe daughters of Zion are haughty

and walk with outstretched necks,

glancing wantonly with their eyes,

mincing along as they go,

ptinkling with their feet,

¹⁷therefore the Lord qwill strike with a scab

the heads of othe daughters of Zion,

and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away rthe finery of the anklets, the sheadbands, and the tcrescents; ¹⁹the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; ²⁰the uheaddresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; ²¹the signet rings and vnose rings; ²²the wfestal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; ²³the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

²⁴Instead of xperfume there will be rottenness;

and instead of a ybelt, a rope;

and instead of zwell-set hair, abaldness;

and instead of a rich robe, a bskirt of sackcloth;

and cbranding instead of beauty.

²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword

and your mighty men in battle.

²⁶And dher gates shall lament and mourn;

empty, she shall esit on the ground.