Isaiah — Chapter 3

For lo!The Sovereign GOD of HostsWill remove from Jerusalem and from JudahProp and stay,Every prop of foodAnd every prop of water:awater Emendation yields “clothing”; cf. v. 7; 4.1.

Soldier and warrior,Magistrate and prophet,Augur and elder;

Captain of fifty,Magnate and counselor,Skilled artisan and expert enchanter;benchanter Emendation yields “craftsman.”

And IcI I.e., GOD. will make boys their rulers,And babes shall govern them.

So the people shall oppress one another—Each man oppressing his fellow:The youth shall bully the elder;And the despised [shall bully] the honored.

For should a man seize his brother,dbrother Or “kinsman.” In whose father’s house there is clothing:eIn whose father’s house there is clothing Emendation yields “His father’s son, saying…” “Come, be a chief over us,And let this ruinfruin Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “wound.” be under your care,”

The other will thereupon protest,“I will not be a dresser of wounds,With no food or clothing in my own house.You shall not make me chief of a people!”

Ah, Jerusalem has stumbled,And Judah has fallen,Because by word and deedThey insult GOD,Defying God’s majestic glance.

Their partiality in judgmentgjudgment So Targum; cf. Deut. 1.17; 16.19. accuses them;They avow their sins like Sodom,They do not conceal them.Woe to them! For illHave they served themselves.

(HailhHail Emendation yields “Happy is.” the righteous, for they shall fare well;They shall eat the fruit of their works.

Woe to the wicked, for they shall fare ill;As their hands have dealt, so shall it be done to them.)

My people’s rulers are babes,It is governed by women.ibabes…women Emendation yields the parallel terms “babes…boys”; cf. v. 4 (and v. 5). Alternatively, emendation yields “oppressors…usurers”; cf. Septuagint. O my people!Your leaders are misleaders;They have confused the course of your paths.

GOD stands up to plead a cause,And rises to champion peoples.jpeoples Septuagint “His people”; cf. vv. 14, 15.

GOD will bring this chargeAgainst the elders and officers of this people:“It is you who have ravaged the vineyard;That which was robbed from the poor is in your houses.

How dare you crush My peopleAnd grind the faces of the poor?”—says my Sovereign GOD of Hosts.

GOD said:“Because the daughters of ZionAre so vainAnd walk with heads thrown back,kheads thrown back Lit. “throats bent back.” With roving eyes,And with mincing gait,Making a tinkling with their feet”—

My Sovereign will barelbare So Saadia. Apparently, to bare a woman’s head in public was an intolerable humiliation; cf. Mishnah Baba Kamma 8.6. the patesOf the daughters of Zion, GOD will uncover their heads.

In that day, my Sovereign will strip off the finerymfinery Many of the articles named in vv. 18–24 cannot be identified with certainty. of the anklets, the fillets, and the crescents;

of the eardrops, the bracelets, and the veils;

the turbans, the armlets, and the sashes; of the talismans and the amulets;

the signet rings and the nose rings;

of the festive robes, the mantles, and the shawls; the purses,

the lace gowns, and the linen vests; and the kerchiefs and the capes.

And then—Instead of perfume, there shall be rot;And instead of an apron, a rope;Instead of a diadem of beaten-work,A shorn head;Instead of a rich robe,A girding of sackcloth;A burn instead of beauty.nA burn instead of beauty The complete Isaiah scroll from Qumran, hereafter 1QIsᵃ, reads “For shame shall take the place of beauty”; cf. note at v. 17.

HeroHer I.e., Zion’s; cf. vv. 16, 17; Heb. “your.” men shall fall by the sword,Her force, in battle;

And her gates shall lament and mourn,And she shall be emptied,pshe shall be emptied Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “her wall”; cf. Lam. 2.8. Shall sit on the ground.