Isaiah 3:1-12

God Will Remove the Leaders

1 For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts 1is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread And the whole supply of water;
2 2The mighty man and the warrior, The judge and the prophet, The diviner and the elder,
3 The captain of fifty and the honorable * man, The counselor and the expert artisan, And the skillful enchanter.
4 And I will make mere 3lads their princes, And capricious children will rule over them,
5 And the people will be 4oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his 5neighbor; The youth will storm against the elder And the inferior against the honorable.
6 When a man 6lays hold of his brother in his father's house, saying, "You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler, And these ruins will be under your charge,"
7 He will protest on that day, saying, "I will not be your 7healer, For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; You should not appoint me ruler of the people."
8 For 8Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their 9speech and their actions are against the LORD, To 10rebel against His glorious presence.
9 The expression of their faces bears witness against them, And they display their sin like 11Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have 12brought evil on themselves.
10 Say to the 13righteous that it will go well with them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him, For 14what * he deserves * will be done to him.
12 O My people! Their oppressors are 15children, And women rule over them. O My people! 16Those who guide you lead you astray And confuse the direction of your paths.

Isaiah 3:1-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 3

In this chapter the Jews are threatened with various calamities, on account of their sins, which would issue in their entire ruin and destruction. They are threatened with a famine, Isa 3:1 with a removal of useful men in church and state, and in common life, Isa 3:2,3 with ignorant and effeminate governors; the consequences of which would be oppression and insolence, Isa 3:4,5 yea, that such would be their state and condition, that men, though naturally ambitious of honour, would refuse to have the government of them, Isa 3:6,7 the reasons of these calamities, and of this ruin and fall of them, are their evil words and actions against the Lord, which were highly provoking to him; and their impudence in sinning like Sodom, which was to their own harm, Isa 3:8,9 yet, in the midst of all this, it is the will of God that the righteous should be told it shall be well with them, with the reason of it; when it shall be ill with the wicked, as a just recompence of reward, Isa 3:10,11 the errors and mistakes of the people are attributed to their childish and effeminate governors, Isa 3:12 wherefore the Lord determines to plead their cause, and contend with their elders and rulers, because they had spoiled and devoured the poor, Isa 3:13-15 and particularly the women are threatened, for their pride and luxury, to have their ornaments taken from them, which are particularly mentioned, Isa 3:16-24 and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy, that their mighty men should perish by the sword in war, and the city should be desolate, Isa 3:25,26.

Cross References 16

  • 1. Leviticus 26:26; Isaiah 5:13; Isaiah 9:20; Ezekiel 4:16
  • 2. 2 Kings 24:14; Isaiah 9:14, 15; Ezekiel 17:12, 13
  • 3. Ecclesiastes 10:16
  • 4. Micah 7:3-6
  • 5. Isaiah 9:19; Jeremiah 9:3-8
  • 6. Isaiah 4:1
  • 7. Ezekiel 34:4; Hosea 5:13
  • 8. Isaiah 1:7; Isaiah 6:11
  • 9. Psalms 73:9-11; Isaiah 9:17; Isaiah 59:3
  • 10. Isaiah 65:3
  • 11. Genesis 13:13; Isaiah 1:10-15
  • 12. Proverbs 8:36; Proverbs 15:32; Romans 6:23
  • 13. Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Ecclesiastes 8:12; Isaiah 54:17
  • 14. Deuteronomy 28:15-68; Isaiah 65:6, 7
  • 15. Isaiah 3:4
  • 16. Isaiah 9:16; Isaiah 28:14, 15

Footnotes 14

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.