Yahweh Will Judge Judah’s Leaders

1For behold, the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah

Both [†]supply and support, the whole [†]supply of bread

And the whole [†]supply of water,

2The mighty man and the man of war,

The judge and the prophet,

The diviner and the elder,

3The commander of fifty and the [†]highly respected man,

The counselor and the wise craftsman,

And the experienced enchanter.

4And I will make young men their princes,

And [†]capricious children will rule over them,

5And the people will be oppressed,

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

The youth will overwhelm the elder

And the dishonorable against the honorable.

6When a man grasps his brother in his father’s house, saying,

“You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler,

And these ruins will be under your hand,”

7He will [†]protest on that day, saying,

“I will not be your [†]healer,

For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;

You should not appoint me ruler of the people.”

8For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,

Because their tongue and their deeds are against Yahweh,

To rebel against [†]His glorious presence.

9[†]The expression of their faces answers against them,

And they declare their sin like Sodom;

They do not even conceal it.

Woe to their soul!

For they have dealt out evil on themselves.

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

For they will eat the fruit of their deeds.

11Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,

For [†]what he has dealt out will be done to him.

12O My people! Their taskmasters [†]are infants,

And women rule over them.

O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray

And swallow up the way of your paths.

13Yahweh takes His stand to contend,

And stands to judge the peoples.

14Yahweh enters into judgment with the elders of His people and His princes,

“It is you who have consumed the vineyard;

The plunder robbed of the afflicted is in your houses.

15What do you mean by crushing My people

And grinding the face of the afflicted?”

Declares Lord Yahweh of hosts.

Yahweh Will Judge Zion’s Daughters

16Moreover, Yahweh said, “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty

And walk with outstretched necks and seductive eyes,

And go along with mincing steps

And tinkle the bangles on their feet,

17Therefore the Lord will smite the skull of the daughters of Zion with scabs,

And Yahweh will make their foreheads bare.”

18In that day the Lord will remove the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, 19dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, 20headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, enchanted charms, 21[†]finger rings, nose rings, 22festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, 23hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans, and shawls.

24Now it will be that instead of [†]sweet perfume there will be the smell of rot;

Instead of a belt, a rope;

Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp;

Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth;

And branding instead of beauty.

25Your men will fall by the sword

And your [†]mighty ones in battle.

26And her [†]gates will lament and mourn,

And deserted she will sit on the ground.