Isaiah 3:1-26--Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

Isaiah 3
​English Standard Version

Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem
3 For behold, the Lord God of hosts
    is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
support and supply,
    all support of bread,
    and all support of water;
2 the mighty man and the soldier,
    the judge and the prophet,
    the diviner and the elder,
3 the captain of fifty
    and the man of rank,
the counselor and the skillful magician
    and the expert in charms.
4 And I will make boys their princes,
    and infants shall rule over them.
5 And the people will oppress one another,
    every one his fellow
    and every one his neighbor;
the youth will be insolent to the elder,
    and the despised to the honorable.

6 For a man will take hold of his brother
    in the house of his father, saying:
“You have a cloak;
    you shall be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
    shall be under your rule”;
7 in that day he will speak out, saying:
“I will not be a healer;
    in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
you shall not make me
    leader of the people.”
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled,
    and Judah has fallen,
because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,
    defying his glorious presence.

9 For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
    they proclaim their sin like Sodom;
    they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
    For they have brought evil on themselves.
10 Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
    for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
    for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
12 My people—infants are their oppressors,
    and women rule over them.
O my people, your guides mislead you
    and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.

13 The LORD has taken his place to contend;
    he stands to judge peoples.
14 The LORD will enter into judgment
    with the elders and princes of his people:
“It is you who have devoured the vineyard,
    the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people,
    by grinding the face of the poor?”
declares the Lord God of hosts.

16 The LORD said:
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty
    and walk with outstretched necks,
    glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
    tinkling with their feet,
17 therefore the Lord will strike with a scab
    the heads of the daughters of Zion,
    and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and nose rings; 22 the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

​24 Instead of perfume there will be rottenness;
    and instead of a belt, a rope;
and instead of well-set hair, baldness;
    and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth;
    and branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword
    and your mighty men in battle.
26 And her gates shall lament and mourn;
    empty, she shall sit on the ground.

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We see a mixture of the use of the title "Lord" (Adonai) and the name YHWH (LORD) here The LORD (the covenant name of God) is their Master and King (Adonai).  He will judge Judah and specifically Jerusalem, though that is the place that was knows as the City of God, the place where His glory dwelt among His people in His holy Temple.  For this reason, many thought that Jerusalem could not be attacked, but God said that all water and food would be cut off.  There would be such great famine and poverty that that the people would be willing to follow anyone who had any possessions, even if it was just a cloak (a coat).

Why will the LORD do this?  Because Judah and Jerusalem have fallen, and their speech and deeds are against the LORD.  They have become as wicked or maybe even more wicked than the nations around them.  At least the nations around them feared judgment for their iniquities, but the people of Judah and Jerusalem imagined they would never be judged.  God would correct them though for the sake of His name and for their good.

God would be careful to reserve His punishment for the wicked, and He told Isaiah to tell the righteous that He would protect them.  They would be okay in all of this.  The righteous just needed to be careful to follow the LORD and not their leaders who were blind guides.  They are in fact so bad that God compares "His people" to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah that were destroyed in the closest thing to hellfire here on earth that we have ever seen.

​The LORD Himself will judge His people.  No one will escape His judgment seat--not the rich or powerful nor poor.  All will equally stand before the LORD as He judges those who have taken advantage of His people and tarnished His good Name.  The LORD will oppose the proud and haughty and humiliate those who glorify themselves and celebrate their sinful ways.  The women who adorned themselves to be sexually attractive at this time and to let men know they are available would be judged for their promiscuity.  He would take their physical beauty away from them and show everyone what they looked like on the inside.  Many men would die in battle, but many others would sit in abject poverty (many wishing they were dead so their torment would end).