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,
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. The captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the expert craftsman and the skillful enchanter.
4. And I will make boys their princes, and with childishness shall they rule over them [with outrage instead of justice].
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].
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–
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.
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.
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].
10. Say to 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 them, for what their hands have done shall be done to them.
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.
13. The Lord stands up to contend, and stands to judge the peoples and His people.
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.