Isaiah 3:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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;

NIV: See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water,

NASB: For behold, the Lord God of armies is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the entire supply of bread And the entire supply of water;

CSB: Note this: The Lord God of Armies is about to remove from Jerusalem and from Judah every kind of security: the entire supply of bread and water,

NLT: The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will take away from Jerusalem and Judah everything they depend on: every bit of bread and every drop of water,

KJV: For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

NKJV: For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah The stock and the store, The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water;

Chapter 3 picks up where Isaiah 2 left off. Isaiah is describing the harsh judgment to come on Jerusalem and Judah. He has shown that the people will lose everything they have been trusting in to meet their needs and bring them prosperity, especially their false idols (Isaiah 2:12–18) . Now in chapter 3 Isaiah says that the Lord will remove every good or strong leader from them as well.

Isaiah begins here by reminding his readers that God is the One who is doing this to them. He calls Yahweh "the LORD God of hosts," referring to the armies of angelic warriors the Lord commands (Psalm 103:19–21). The God who is strong enough to provide everything the people of Judah and Jerusalem need will use His great might to remove what His people need. This is a consequence of their faithlessness to Him.

God will take away their "support and supply" or their "stay and staff." Much of Isaiah takes the form of poetry, and he intentionally uses these two Hebrew words, mašʿēn and mašʿēnâ, as a wordplay because they sound similar. The idea is unmistakable: the Lord is going to remove everything that holds Judah up and keeps the people going.

This includes the most basic of needs, represented by bread and water. This may be a reference to a time of actual hunger and thirst coming to Jerusalem, perhaps during a siege. Some scholars suggest that Isaiah means this reference to be in the context of a metaphor for good men and good leadership, who were also taken away by Judah's conquerors (2 Kings 24:14).

Isaiah 3:1–15 describes what will happen when God removes all the men of importance from Jerusalem . From soldiers to commanders and judges to charms experts. Those left behind will soon turn on each other for survival, oppressing the poor and old. Any man offered the role of Jerusalem's leader will refuse, knowing he cannot bring healing or provision to God's people. The Lord will bring charges against Judah's current leaders for mistreating the poor and taking everything from them.

Isaiah reveals that the Lord will take away all the qualified men from Judah and Jerusalem in His judgment. This includes military, political, and spiritual leaders. After they're gone, the people will turn on each other to survive, trying to convince anyone with the slightest advantage to be their leader. The Lord makes his case against Judah's leaders for taking from the poor instead of providing for them. The Lord will take away from Judah's women all the adornments they displayed in public in their arrogance and immorality. Jerusalem's men will fall, and she will be left empty.

Isaiah 3 picks up where the last verse in Isaiah 2 left off (Isaiah 2:22). There Isaiah warned the people not to trust in mere men and now he proclaims that the Lord will remove all the qualified men from Jerusalem. Those left behind will turn on each other. The Lord will bring charges against Jerusalem's current leaders for mistreating the poor. Because the wealthy women of Jerusalem and Judah are arrogant and immoral, the Lord will take away all their adornments, replacing hair with baldness and beauty with enemy brands. Jerusalem's men will die, leaving her broken and empty. This likely refers to the eventual invasion of Jerusalem and the capture of her people (2 Kings 24:14).

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).