1Listen carefully, the Lord GOD of hosts is removing from Jerusalem and from Judah

Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread

And the whole supply of water;

2The brave man and the warrior [He is also removing],

The judge and the prophet,

The diviner and the elder,

3The captain of fifty and the man of honor,

The counselor and the expert artisan,

And the skillful enchanter.

4And I will make mere boys their princes,

And capricious (impulsive, unpredictable) children will rule over them.

5And the people will be oppressed,

Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor;

The boy will be arrogant and insolent toward the elder

And the vulgar (common) toward the honorable [person of rank].

6When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying,

“You have a robe, you shall be our judge and ruler,

And this pile of ruins will be under your control,”

7He will protest on that day, saying,

“I will not be a [a]governor;

For in my house there is neither bread nor clothing;

You should not make me a judge and ruler of the people.”

8For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,

Because their words and their actions are against the LORD,

To rebel against His glorious presence and defiantly provoke Him.

9Their partiality testifies against them,

They display their sin like Sodom;

They do not even hide it.

Woe (judgment is coming) to [b]them!

For they have brought evil on themselves [as a reward].

10Say to the righteous that it will go well with them,

For they will eat the fruit of their [righteous] actions.

11Woe (judgment is coming) to the wicked! It shall go badly with him,

For what his hand has done shall be done to him.

12O 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