Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah

1For behold, the Lord YHWH of hosts

is turning away

from Jerusalem and from Judah

the staff† and support—

the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water—

2the mighty one and the man of war,

the judge and the prophet,

and the diviner and the elder,

3the captain of fifty, and the lifted up of faces,

and the counselor, and the cunning magician, and the discerning charmer.

4“And I will give youths as their princes,

and infants will rule over them.”

5And the people will be oppressed,

each man by a man and each man by his neighbor;

the child will rage against the elder,

and the one despised against the honored.

6For a man will take hold on his brother

in the house of his father:

“A cloak is unto you—the chief you will be for us,

and this heap of ruins is under your hand;”

7he will lift up in that day to say,

“I will not be one binding wounds,

and in my house there is no bread and no garment;

you⁺ shall not set me as chief of the people.”

8For Jerusalem has stumbled,

and Judah has fallen,

because their tongue and their deeds are against YHWH,

defying the eyes of His glory.

9The look of their faces answers against them,

and their sin like Sodom they declare—

they do not hide it!

Woe to their soul,

for they have brought evil upon themselves.

10Say to the righteous that it is good,

for the fruit of their deeds they will eat.

11Woe to the wicked—evil;

for the recompense of his hands will be done to him!

12My people—their oppressors are foolish children,

and women rule over them.

O My people, those who guide you lead you astray,

and the way of your paths they have swallowed up.

13YHWH Is taking His stand to contend,

and is standing to judge the peoples.

14YHWH will enter into judgment

with the elders of His people and His princes:

“And you⁺—you⁺ have consumed the vineyard;

the plunder of the poor is in your⁺ houses.

15Why do you crush My people,

and grind the faces of the poor?”

A declaration of the Lord YHWH of hosts.

A Warning to the Daughters of Zion

16And says YHWH:

“Because that the daughters of Zion are haughty,

and they walk with outstretched neck

and wanton eyes,

walking and skipping as they go,

and with their feet jingling,

17and the Lord will bring scabs

to the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,

and YHWH will make their foreheads bare.†

18That in the day the Lord will turn away

the beauty of the anklets and the headbands, and the crescents,

19the pendants, and the bracelets, and the veils,

20the headdresses, and the armlets, and the sashes,

and the boxes of perfume, and the charms,

21the signet rings, and nose rings,

22the festive robes, and the tunics, and the cloaks, and the purses,

23and the mirrors, and the linen garments, and the turbans, and the veils.

24And it will come to pass, instead of of spice,

that there will be rottenness;

and instead of a belt, a rope;

and instead of worked hair, baldness;

and instead of a fine robe, a girding of sackcloth;

and shame† instead of beauty.

25Your men will fall by the sword,

and your mighty ones in battle;

26and her gates will lament and mourn

and she will be left empty—on the ground she will sit.