3:1  FOR BEHOLD, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff [every kind of prop], the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water,

3:2  The mighty man and the man of war, the judge {and} the [professional] prophet, the one who foretells by divination and the old man,

3:3  The captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the expert craftsman and the skillful enchanter.

3:4  And I will make boys their princes, and with childishness shall they rule over them [with outrage instead of justice].

3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; the child shall behave himself proudly {and} with insolence against the old man, and the lowborn against the honorable [person of rank].

3:6  When a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, You have a robe, you shall be our judge {and} ruler, and this heap of ruins shall be under your control--

3:7  In that day he will answer, saying, I will not be a healer {and} one who binds up; {I am not a physician}. For in my house is neither bread nor clothing; you shall not make me judge {and} ruler of the people.

3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory {and} defy His glorious presence.

3:9  Their respecting of persons {and} showing of partiality witnesses against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil [as a reward upon themselves].

3:10  Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

3:11  Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with them, for what their hands have done shall be done to them.

3:12  As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people, your leaders cause you to err, and they confuse (destroy and swallow up) the course of your paths.

3:13  The Lord stands up to contend, and stands to judge the peoples {and} His people.

3:14  The Lord enters into judgment with the elders of His people and their princes: For [by your exactions and oppressions you have robbed the people and ruined the country] you have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

3:15  What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the faces of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts.

3:16  Moreover, the Lord said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks and with undisciplined (flirtatious and alluring) eyes, tripping along with mincing {and} affected gait, and making a tinkling noise with [the anklets on] their feet,

3:17  Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the heads of the daughters of Zion [making them bald], and the Lord will cause them to be [taken as captives and to suffer the indignity of being] stripped naked.

3:18  In that day the Lord will take away the finery of their tinkling anklets, the caps of network, the crescent head ornaments,

3:19  The pendants, the bracelets {or} chains, and the spangled face veils {and} scarfs,

3:20  The headbands, the short ankle chains [attached from one foot to the other to insure a measured gait], the sashes, the perfume boxes, the amulets {or} charms [suspended from the ears or neck],

3:21  The signet rings and nose rings,

3:22  The festal robes, the cloaks, the stoles {and} shawls, and the handbags,

3:23  The hand mirrors, the fine linen [undergarments], the turbans, and the [whole body-enveloping] veils.

3:24  And it shall come to pass that instead of the sweet odor of spices there shall be the stench of rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; and searing [of captives by the scorching heat] instead of beauty.

3:25  Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty men in battle.

3:26  And [Jerusalem's] gates shall lament and mourn [as those who wail for the dead]; and she, being ruined {and} desolate, shall sit upon the ground.