Isaiah 3

1For look: the Lord, the LORD of Armies, is about to take away from Jerusalem and from Judah everything they lean on, all the bread they rely on and all the water they rely on, 2the hero and the fighting man, the judge and the prophet, the fortune-teller and the elder, 3the officer over fifty and the man of high rank, the adviser, the clever magician, and the expert in spells. 4I will give them boys to be their officials, and fickle whims will govern them. 5The people will oppress one another, each person against the next and each against a neighbor. The young will defy the old, and the despised will defy the respected. 6One man will catch hold of his brother in their father’s house: “You still own a cloak. Be our chief, and let this pile of rubble be in your care.” 7On that day he will raise his voice and say, “I am no binder of wounds! There is no bread in my house and no cloak. Do not set me up as the people’s chief.” 8Jerusalem has tripped and Judah lies fallen, for what they say and what they do opposes the LORD; they rebel in full view of his glory. 9Their faces give evidence against them. Like Sodom, they announce their sin openly and do not conceal it. Woe to their souls! They have dealt out harm to themselves. 10Say of the righteous that good awaits them, for they will feed on the harvest of what they have done. 11Woe to the wicked! Trouble lies ahead, for they will get back the same treatment their hands gave. 12My people! Their taskmasters are childish, and women govern them. My people, those who guide you lead you off course; they have swallowed up the road you should walk.

13The LORD takes his place to bring a charge; he stands up to judge the peoples. 14The LORD comes into court against the elders and the leaders of his people: You are the ones who have burned the vineyard; your houses hold what you robbed from the poor. 15What right do you have to crush my people and to grind the faces of the poor? declares the Lord GOD of Armies.

16The LORD said: Since the daughters of Zion are proud and go about with heads held high and flirting eyes, stepping daintily as they walk and jingling the rings on their ankles, 17the Lord will cover the heads of the daughters of Zion with scabs, and the LORD will strip their foreheads bare.

18On that day the Lord will strip away their finery: the anklets, the headbands, and the moon-shaped ornaments, 19the eardrops, the bracelets, and the veils, 20the headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the vials of perfume, and the amulets, 21the signet rings and the nose rings, 22the festive garments, the outer robes, the wraps, and the money bags, 23the hand mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the long veils. 24Then, where there was perfume, there will be the smell of rot; where there was a belt, a rope; where hair was elegantly arranged, a bare scalp; where a rich robe was worn, a band of sackcloth; and a burn scar where there was beauty. 25The sword will cut down your men, and your mighty ones will fall in war. 26Her gates will moan and grieve, and she will sit on the ground, emptied of all she had.