God Will Remove the Leaders
1 Listen carefully, the Lord Godof hosts is removing from Jerusalem and from Judah
Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread
And the whole supply of water;
2 The brave man and the warrior [He is also removing],
The judge and the prophet,
The diviner and the elder,
3 The captain of fifty and the man of honor,
The counselor and the expert artisan,
And the skillful enchanter.
4 And I will makemereboys their princes,
And capricious (impulsive, unpredictable) children will rule over them.
5 And the people will be oppressed,
Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor;
The boy will be arrogantandinsolent toward the elder
And the vulgar (common) toward the honorable [person of rank].
6 When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father,saying,
“You have a robe, you shall be our judgeandruler,
And this pile of ruins will be under your control,”
7 He will protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be agovernor;
For in my house there is neither bread nor clothing;
You should not make me a judgeandruler of the people.”
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
Because their words and their actions are against the Lord,
To rebel against His glorious presenceanddefiantly provoke Him.
9 Their partiality testifies against them,
They display their sin like Sodom;
They do not even hide it.
Woe (judgment is coming) tothem!
For they have brought evil on themselves [as a reward].
10 Say to the righteous thatit will gowell with them,
For they will eat the fruit of their [righteous] actions.
11 Woe (judgment is coming) to the wicked!It shall gobadlywith him,
For what his hand has done shall be done to him.
12 O My people! Children are their oppressors,
And women rule over them.
O My people! Your leaders lead you astray
And confuse (destroy, swallow up) the direction of your paths.
God Will Judge
13 The Lordrises to contend,
And stands to judge the people.
14 The Lordenters into judgment with the elders of His people and their princes,
“For it is you who have devoured the vineyard [with your oppression, you have robbed the people and ruined the country];
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
15 “What do you mean by crushing My people
And grinding the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord Godof hosts.
Judah’s Women Denounced
16 Moreover, the Lordsaid, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud
And walk with outstretched necks and seductive (flirtatious, alluring) eyes,
And trip along with mincing stepsandan affected gait
And walk with jinglinganklets on their feet,
17 Therefore the Lord will afflict the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion with scabs [making them bald],
And the Lordwill expose their foreheads (send them into captivity).”
18 In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, [braided] caps, crescent [head] ornaments,
19 dangling earrings, bracelets, and the hanging veilsandscarves,
20 head wraps (turbans), [short, jingling] ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets (charms),
21 signet [finger] rings, nose rings,
22 festival robes, outer tunics, shawls, handbags,
23 hand mirrors, [fine linen] undergarments, headbands, and veils [covering the entire body].
24 Now it will come to pass that instead of the sweet fragrance of spices there will be [the stench of] rottenness;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, baldness;
Instead of fine clothes, a robe of sackcloth;
And branding [of captives by the scorching heat] instead of beauty.
25 Your men will fall by the sword
And your mighty men in battle.
26 And Jerusalem’s gates will lament (cry out in grief) and mourn [as those who wail for the dead];
And she, being ruinedanddesolate, will sit upon the ground.