1 FOR, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counseller, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.
6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:
7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.
8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
13 The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.
16 Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.
18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.
25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

1For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hostes doeth take away from Ierusalem, and from Iudah, the stay and the staffe, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

2The mighty man, and the man of warre; the Iudge and the Prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,

3The captaine of fiftie, and the honourable man, and the counseller, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent oratour.

4And I will giue children to bee their Princes, and babes shall rule ouer them.

5And the people shall be oppressed, euery one by another, and euery one by his neighbour: the childe shall behaue himselfe proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

6When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruine bee vnder thy hand:

7In that day shall he sweare, saying, I will not be an healer: for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

8For Ierusalem is ruined, & Iudah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to prouoke the eyes of his glorie.

9 The shew of their countenance doeth witnesse against them, and they declare their sinne as Sodom, they hide it not: woe vnto their soule, for they haue rewarded euill vnto themselues.

10Say yee to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eate the fruit of their doings.

11Woe vnto the wicked, it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his handes shalbe giuen him.

12 As for my people, children are their oppressours, and women rule ouer them: O my people, they which lead thee, cause thee to erre, and destroy the way of thy paths.

13The Lord standeth vp to plead, and standeth to iudge the people.

14The Lord will enter into iudgement with the ancients of his people, and the Princes thereof: for ye haue eaten vp the Uineyard; the spoile of the poore is in your houses.

15What meane yee that yee beat my people to pieces, and grinde the faces of the poore, saith the Lord God of hosts?

16 Moreouer the Lord saith; Because the daughters of Zion are hautie, and walke with stretched forth necks, and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they goe, and making a tinkeling with their feet:

17Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crowne of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discouer their secret parts.

18In that day the Lord will take away the brauery of their tinckling ornaments about their feete, and their caules, and their round tyres like the Moone.

19The chaines, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

20The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legges, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earerings,

21The rings, and nose-iewels,

22The changeable sutes of apparell, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pinnes,

23The glasses, and the fine linnen, and the hoods, and the vailes.

24And it shall come to passe, that in steade of sweete smell, there shall bee stinke; and in stead of a girdle, a rent; and in stead of well set haire, baldnesse; and in stead of a stomacher, a girding of sackecloth; and burning, in stead of beautie.

25Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mightie in the warre.

26And her gates shall lament and mourne; and she being desolate, shall sit vpon the ground.

I == Lev 26:26 ; Jer 37:21 ; 38:9

 

II == 2nd Kings 24:14

 

 

 

 

IV == Eccl 10:16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VII == Gen 14:22

 

VIII == Mic 3:12

 

 

IX == Gen 13:13 ; 18:20-21 ; 19:5

 

 

X == Ps 128:2 ; Eccl 8:12

 

XI == Ps 11:6 ; Eccl 8:13

 

XII == Isa 3:4 ; 9:16

 

XIII == Mic 6:2

 

XIV == Isa 5:7 ; Matt 21:33

 

 

XV == Isa 58:4 ; Mic 3:2-3

 

 

 

 

 

XVII == Deut 28:27 ; Isa 47:2-3 ; Jer 13:22 ; Nah 3:5

 

XVIII == Judg 8:21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXIV == Isa 22:12 ; Mic 1:16

 

 

 

 

 

XXVI == Jer 14:2 ; Lam 1:4 ; 2:10

1 The Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall take away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and prop (all supplies of bread and water):

2 Hero and warrior, judge and prophet, fortune-teller and elder,

3 The captain of fifty and the nobleman, counselor, skilled magician, and expert charmer.

4 I will make striplings their princes; the fickle shall govern them,

5 And the people shall oppress one another, yes, every man his neighbor. The child shall be bold toward the elder, and the base toward the honorable.

6 When a man seizes his brother in his father's house, saying, "You have clothes! Be our ruler, and take in hand this ruin!" - 

7 Then shall he answer in that day: "I will not undertake to cure this, when in my own house there is no bread or clothing! You shall not make me ruler of the people."

8 Jerusalem is crumbling, Judah is falling; for their speech and their deeds are before the LORD, a provocation in the sight of his majesty.

9 Their very look bears witness against them; their sin like Sodom they vaunt, They hide it not. Woe to them! they deal out evil to themselves.

10 Happy the just, for it will be well with them, the fruit of their works they will eat.

11 Woe to the wicked man! All goes ill, with the work of his hands he will be repaid.

12 My people - a babe in arms will be their tyrant, and women will rule them! O my people, your leaders mislead, they destroy the paths you should follow.

13 The LORD rises to accuse, standing to try his people.

14 The Lord enters into judgment with his people's elders and princes: It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the loot wrested from the poor is in your houses.

15 What do you mean by crushing my people, and grinding down the poor when they look to you? says the Lord, the GOD of hosts.

16 The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with necks outstretched Ogling and mincing as they go, their anklets tinkling with every step,

17 The Lord shall cover the scalps of Zion's daughters with scabs, and the LORD shall bare their heads.

18 On that day the LORD will do away with the finery of the anklets, sunbursts, and crescents;

19 the pendants, bracelets, and veils;

20 the headdresses, bangles, cinctures, perfume boxes, and amulets;

21 the signet rings, and the nose rings;

22 the court dresses, wraps, cloaks, and purses;

23 the mirrors, linen tunics, turbans, and shawls.

24 Instead of perfume there will be stench, instead of the girdle, a rope, And for the coiffure, baldness; for the rich gown, a sackcloth skirt. Then, instead of beauty:

25 Your men will fall by the sword, and your champions, in war;

26 Her gates will lament and mourn, as the city sits desolate on the ground.

v 1-8. Because of their sin, God will take away everything upon which they rely, even the wicked soothsayers and enchanters. They would have weak leadership and call on even anyone, just because he owned a cloak to lead, but he would refuse because he would only be ruling over ruins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 9-12. The righteous needn’t fear judgment, but the wicked will be recompensed for their wickedness. Children and women, the very weak, will rule over God’s people because they have rejected God’s leadership.

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 13-15. The Lord rises up to judge the leaders who have for their own interest [1] ruined the people by oppression [2] taken advantage of the poor by plundering them.

 

 

 

 

v 16-26. The proud, flirtatious women (possibly illustrating proud Judah) would be stricken with head sores and stripped naked as they are taken captive. The cauls, v 18 are embroidered network on the tires, or head coverings. They would lose all their wealthy possessions to soldiers, and any clothing would be sackcloth of mourning with a rope to hold it in place instead of a girdle, and their sores would make them stink. Instead of displaying their beauty, they would be branded as slaves. They would be in mourning also for many of their men dying in battle. Later, Jeremiah wrote that some ate their own children, Lam. 2:20, as the Lord foretold, Lev. 26:29.
Notice 4:1, so many men died and the women so disgraced that they beg for marriage if only to have the status of a name.