Isaiah 3:15

15 Why all-break ye my people, and grind together the faces of poor men? saith the Lord God of hosts. (Why altogether break ye my people, and altogether grind down the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.)

Isaiah 3:15 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 3:15

What mean ye, [that] ye beat my people to pieces
Reduce them to the utmost poverty; so the Targum,

``wherefore do ye impoverish my people?''

as they did by exacting tithes of all that they possessed; by requiring large sums for their long prayers; and by various traditions they enjoined them to observe: and grind the faces of the poor?
either by smiting them on the cheek, as Christ, who became poor for our sakes, was smitten by them; or by bringing them into such low circumstances, by their exorbitant demands, that they had not sufficiency of food to eat; by which means their faces became pale, thin, and meagre: saith the Lord God of Hosts:
who saw all their actions, and was able to plead his people's cause, and take vengeance on their oppressors.

Isaiah 3:15 In-Context

13 The Lord standeth for to deem, and he standeth for to deem [the] peoples; (The Lord cometh forth to judge, yea, he cometh forth to judge the people;)

14 the Lord shall come to doom, with the elder men of his people, and with his princes; for ye have wasted my vineyard, and the raven of a poor man is in your house. (the Lord shall come to judge the elders of his people, and their leaders; for ye have destroyed my vineyard, and the spoils of the poor be in your house.)

15 Why all-break ye my people, and grind together the faces of poor men? saith the Lord God of hosts. (Why altogether break ye my people, and altogether grind down the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.)

16 And the Lord God said, For that that the daughters of Zion were raised (up), and went with neck stretched forth, and went by signs of eyes, and clapped with hands, and went, and with their feet went in well-arrayed going (and went with their feet in well-arrayed fashion, and with bangles on their ankles),

17 the Lord shall make bald the noll of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord shall make naked the hair of them. (the Lord shall make the daughters of Zion bald, yea, the Lord shall shave off all their hair.)