3:1 "Note this! The Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies is taking away from Jerusalem and Judah everything that your society needs— all food supplies and all water supplies,
3:2 the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the fortune-teller and the elder,
3:3 the commander of fifty and the man of rank, and the counselor, the expert magician, and the medium.
3:4 "I will make youths their princes, and infants will rule over them.
3:5 People will oppress one another— It will be man against man and neighbor against neighbor. The young will be disrespectful to the old, and the worthless to the honorable.
3:6 "For a man will grab his brother in his own father's house, and say, 'You have a cloak, so you be our leader, and this heap of ruins will be under your rule!'
3:7 "But at that time, he'll protest! He'll say, 'I won't be your healer. I have neither food nor clothing in my house! You're not going to make me a leader of the people!'
3:8 "For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because what they say and do opposes the LORD; they keep defying him.
3:9 "The expressions on their faces give them away. They parade their sin around like Sodom; they don't even try to hide it. How horrible it will be for them, because they have brought disaster on themselves!"
3:10 "Tell the righteous that things will go well, because they will enjoy the fruit of their actions."
3:11 "How terrible it will be for the wicked! Disaster is headed their way, because what they did with their hand will be repaid to them.
3:12 "As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, your leaders are misleading you— they're giving you confusing directions."
3:13 The LORD is taking his place to argue his case; he's standing up to judge the people.
3:14 The LORD will go to court to oppose the elders and princes of his people: "You're the ones who have been devouring the vineyard, the plunder of the poor is in your own houses!
3:15 How dare you crush my people as you grind down the face of the poor?" declares the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies.
3:16 The LORD also says: "Because Zion's women are so haughty, and walk with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, prancing along as they walk, and making tinkling noises with their ankle bracelets,
3:17 therefore the LORD will afflict sores on the heads of Zion's women, and the LORD will expose their private parts.
3:18 "At that time, the LORD will take away the finery of the ankle bracelets, headbands, crescents,
3:24 "And it will come about that instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well-set hair, baldness; instead of a fine robe, sackcloth; and instead of beauty, shame.
3:25 Your men will die violently, while your forces fall in battle
3:26 and her gates lament and mourn. Ravaged, she will sit on the ground."
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