3
III
1For, behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts,
Removeth from Jerusalem, and from Judah,
Every stay and support;
The whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water:
2The mighty man, and the warrior;
The judge, and the prophet, and the diviner, and the elder:
3The captain of fifty, and the honourable man;
And the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the skilful in incantation.
4And I will set boys for their princes;
And children shall rule over them.
5And the people shall be oppressed;
This man by that man, and that man by his neighbour:
They shall behave themselves insolently, the boy towards the old man;
And the base towards the honourable.
6Then should a man lay hold on his brother, of the house of his father,
Saying, thou hast raiment; be thou ruler over us,
And take this ruin under thy hand:
7He shall swear in that day, saying,
I cannot be the healer;
For in my house is neither bread nor raiment:
Appoint not me a ruler of the people.
8For Jerusalem tottereth, and Judah falleth; Because their tongue and their deeds are against
Jehovah;
To provoke his glorious eyes.
9The shamelessness of their countenances witnesseth against them;
And they speak openly of their sin, like Sodom, they hide it not:
Wo unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
10Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him;
For the fruit of his deeds shall he eat.
11Wo unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him;
For the reward of his hands shall be given him.
12As for my people, children are their oppressors;
And women rule over them.
O my people, thy leaders cause thee to err;
And the way of thy paths, they pervert.
13 Jehovah ariseth to plead his cause;
He standeth to judge the people.
14 Jehovah will enter into judgment
With the elders of his people and their princes:
For ye have consumed the vineyard,
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
15What mean ye that ye crush my people,
And grind the faces of the poor?
Saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
16Moreover Jehovah hath said:
Because the daughters of Zion ore haughty;
And walk displaying the neck,
And leering with their eyes,
Walking and mincing as they go,
And making a tinkling with their feet.
17Therefore will the Lord smite with a scab the head of the daughters of Zion;
And Jehovah will expose their nakedness.
18In that day will the Lord remove the splendour of the foot-ornaments,
And the caps of network, and the crescents;
19The ear-pendents, and the bracelets, and the thin veils;
20The head-dress, and the ornaments of the legs, and the girdles,
And the perfume-boxes, and the amulets;
21The rings, and the jewels of the nose;
22The embroidered robes, and the tunics;
And the cloaks, and the sachels;
23The transparent garments, and the fine linen vests;
And the turbans, and the mantles.
24And it shall come to pass, that instead of perfume there shall be a stench;
And instead of a girdle, a rope;
And instead of plaited hair, baldness;
And instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth:
A sunburnt skin, instead of beauty.
25Thy men shall fall by the sword;
And thy mighty in the war,
26And her gates shall lament and mourn;
And destitute shall she sit upon the ground.