Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

¹For behold, the Lord,

the Lord of Hosts,

takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah

the stock and the store,

the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water;

²the mighty man and the man of war,[#Eze 17:13]

the judge and the prophet,

and the prudent and the ancient,

³the captain of fifty and the honorable man,

the counselor and the skillful artisan, and the eloquent orator.

⁴I will give youths to be their princes,[#Ecc 10:16]

and unweaned children shall rule over them.

⁵The people shall be oppressed,

every one by another, and every one by his neighbor;

the youth shall behave himself proudly against the elder,

and the inferior against the honorable.

⁶When a man shall take hold of his brother[#Isa 4:1]

in the house of his father saying,

“You have clothing; be our ruler,

and let this ruin be under your power,”

⁷in that day he shall swear saying,

“I will not be a healer.

For in my house is neither bread nor clothing;

do not make me a ruler of the people.”

⁸For Jerusalem is ruined,

and Judah is fallen,

because their tongue and their deeds are against the Lord ,

to provoke the eyes of His glory.

⁹The expression of their countenance witnesses against them,

and they declare their sin as Sodom;

they hide it not.

Woe to them!

For they have brought evil on themselves.

¹⁰Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them,[#Dt 28:1–14; Ecc 8:12]

for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

¹¹Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,[#Dt 28:15–68; Ecc 8:13]

for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

¹²As for My people, children are their oppressors,[#Isa 3:4]

and women rule over them.

O My people, those who lead you cause you to err,

and destroy the way of your paths.

¹³The Lord stands up to plead

and stands to judge the people.

¹⁴The Lord will enter into judgment[#Job 22:4; Ps 143:2]

with the elders and the princes of His people:

For you have eaten up the vineyard;

the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵What do you mean that you beat My people to pieces[#Ps 94:5]

and grind the faces of the poor?

says the Lord God of Hosts.

¹⁶Moreover the Lord says:

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty

and walk with outstretched necks

and wanton eyes,

walking and mincing as they go,

and making a tinkling with their feet,

¹⁷therefore, the Lord will strike with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,

and the Lord will make their foreheads bare.

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the ankle ornaments, and the headbands, and the crescent ornaments,[#Jdg 8:21]

¹⁹the chains, and the bracelets, and the veils,

²⁰the headdresses, the leg ornaments, the sashes, perfume boxes, amulets,[#Ex 39:28]

²¹the finger rings, nose rings,[#Ge 24:47]

²²festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, purses,

²³hand mirrors, and undergarments, hoods, and veils.

²⁴Instead of sweet perfume there shall be a stench;

and instead of a belt, a rope;

and instead of well-set hair, baldness;

and instead of fine clothes, a girding of sackcloth;

and branding instead of beauty.

²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword,

and your mighty in the war.

²⁶Her gates shall lament and mourn,

and she, being desolate, shall sit on the ground.