¹For behold, the Lord – the Lord of hosts –

Is removing supplies and provisions from Jerusalem and from Judah –

All supplies of bread

And all supplies of water,

²Affecting the warrior and soldier,

Judge and prophet and diviner,

And old man,

³Commander of fifty and dignitary,

And counsellor and skilled craftsman,

And the initiate in incantations.

⁴And I will appoint youngsters as their officials,

And children will rule over them.

⁵And the people will be oppressed,

One man by another,

And one man by his neighbour.

And a young man will be insolent to an old man,

As will a common man to an honourable man.

⁶For a man will take hold of his brother in his father's house,

And he will say, “You have a coat;

You shall be our leader,

And these ruins will be under your direction.”

⁷He will take an oath on that day,

And he will say,

“I will not be the one who remedies this

While there is no food and no coat in my house.

Do not make me a leader of the people.”

⁸For Jerusalem has toppled over,

And Judah has fallen down,

For their tongue and their deeds were directed against the Lord,

In grieving his majestic gaze.

⁹The expression on their faces testifies against them,

And they betray their sin like Sodom;

They do not conceal it.

Woe to their very selves,

For they are recompensed with evil.

¹⁰Say to the righteous man that this is pleasing:

That men will eat the fruit of their works.

¹¹Woe to the evil wicked man!

For the just deserts of his hands

Will be repaid him.

¹²As for my people, their taskmasters are juvenile,

And women rule over them.

My people, those guiding you are leading you astray,

And they have subverted the way of your paths.

¹³The Lord is poised to take issue,

And he is taking a stand in judging various peoples.

¹⁴The Lord will enter into a judicial process

With the elders of his people and their officials,

For you have consumed the vineyard,

And the plunder taken from the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵“What concern has it been to you

Who tread my people down

And grind down the dignity of the poor?”

Says the Lord,

The Lord of hosts.

¹⁶And the Lord said,

“Since the daughters of Zion have been haughty

And have walked vaunting their throats

And flirting with their eyes,

Mincing along as they walk,

And wearing anklets on their feet,

¹⁷The Lord^* will make the hair of the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion fall out,

And the Lord will expose their nakedness.

¹⁸On that day the Lord^* will remove the adornment of anklets,

And the sun-disks,

And the moon-bangles,

¹⁹The pendants, and the bracelets,

And the veils,

²⁰The headdresses and the ankle-chains and the waistbands,

And the perfume boxes,

And the amulets,

²¹The rings on fingers and the noserings,

²²The mantles and the fine coats,

And the cloaks,

And the purses,

²³And the mirrors,

And the linen underwear,

And the turbans

And the scarves.

²⁴And it will come to pass

That instead of perfume there will be rottenness,

And instead of a girdle, a cord,

And instead of hairstyling, baldness,

And instead of an overcoat, a wrapping of sackcloth;

Burn marks instead of beauty.

²⁵Your men will fall by the sword,

As will your military might in war.

²⁶And her gates will sigh and mourn,

And she will be vacated

And remain on the ground.”