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TitleIsaiah 3
Publication TypeBook Chapter
Year of Publication2022
AuthorsParry, Donald W.
Book TitleThe Book of Isaiah: A New Translation (Preliminary Edition)
Chapter3
PublisherBook of Mormon Central
CitySpringville, UT

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Woe to the Wicked! Hope for the Righteous! (3:1–12)

Isaiah

3 1For behold, the Lord, the LORD of Hosts, removes from Jerusalem and from Judah

the supply and the support[1],
the entire supply of bread, and the entire supply of water,

2warrior and man of war, judge and prophet and wizard and elder, 3captain of fifty, and notable person, and counselor, and skilled craftsman and caster of spells.

The Lord

4And I will give young people to be their leaders,
and babes will rule over them.

5And the people will be oppressed—
everyone by another, everyone by a neighbor;

the young person will be disrespectful to the elder,
and the despised against the honored.

6When a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying,

Unnamed individual

“You have clothing; you will be our leader and let [not][2] this ruin [come] under your hand.”

The Lord

7In that day he will say,

Unnamed individual

“I will not be a healer, for in my house there is neither bread nor clothing. You will not make me a leader of the people.”

Isaiah

8For Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen,

because their [tongues][3] and their deeds are against the LORD,
provoking His glorious eyes.

9The look of their faces testifies against them,
and their sin is like Sodom.
They declare it; they do not conceal it.

Woe to their souls!
for they have paid themselves with evil.

10Say to the righteous that it is well,
for they will eat the fruit of their deeds.

11Woe unto the wicked! It is evil! [For they will perish,][4]
for the dealings of [their hand will be upon them][5].

 

12[And][6] my people—children are their oppressors,
and women rule over [you][7].

My people—your guides cause you to err
and confound the way of your paths.

 

Judgment against the Daughters of Zion (3:13–4:1)

Isaiah

13The LORD takes His place to plead a cause
and stands to judge peoples.

14The LORD enters into judgment with the elders
and the leaders of His people;

The Lord

but you, you have consumed the vineyard,
[and][8] the plunder of the poor in your houses.

15What do you mean? You crush My people
and grind the faces of the poor?

Isaiah

Declares the Lord, the LORD of Hosts!
16And the LORD says,

The Lord

“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,

and they walk with stretched neck and flirtatious eyes,
walking along with strutting steps, walking with jingling anklets”;

Isaiah

17Therefore the Lord will bring scabs on the heads of the daughters of Zion,
and the LORD will lay bare their private parts.

18In that day the Lord will take away the glory of the anklets[9], the brow bands, and the crescents, 19the ear pendants, the bracelets, and the veils, 20the headdresses, the armlets, the breast-sashes, the receptacles of perfume, and the amulets, 21the signet-rings, and the nose rings, 22the festival dresses, the outer garments, the shawls, and the purses, 23the mirrors, the undergarments, the headbands, and the headcloths.

24And it will come to pass, instead of perfume there will be stench;
and instead of a belt, a rope;
and instead of well-set hair, baldness;
and instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth;
burning instead of beauty[10].

25Your men will fall by the sword,
and your warriors in war.

26And her {Zion’s} entrances will lament and mourn,
and she [will be][11] desolate, [and][12] she will sit on the ground.

 

 

4 1And in that day, seven women will grasp one man, saying,

Seven women

“We will eat our own bread,
and wear our own apparel;

only let us be called by your name.
Take away our disgrace.”



[1] Isaiah skillfully employs here a feminine form (Hebrew mash‘enah) and a masculine form (Hebrew mash‘en) of the same word to emphasize the totality of the Lord’s removal of food.

[2] The words in brackets in verse 6 are from the JST and 2 Nephi 13.

[3] From JST and 2 Nephi 13:8.

[4] From JST and 2 Nephi 13:11.

[5] From JST.

[6] From JST and 2 Nephi 13:12.

[7] From JST.

[8] From JST and 2 Nephi 13.

[9] A few of the Hebrew words that deal with ornaments, jewelry, and clothing are rare, and their precise meanings are uncertain.

[10] DSS Isaiah reads “shame instead of beauty.”

[11] From JST and 2 Nephi 13:26.

[12] From JST.

 

Scripture Reference

Isaiah 3:1