Isaiah 3:24

3:24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, ¹ 

a rope will replace a belt,

baldness will replace braided locks of hair,

a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,

and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.

Isaiah 15:2-3

15:2 They went up to the temple, ² 

the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. ³ 

Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, ⁴  Moab wails.

Every head is shaved bare,

every beard is trimmed off. ⁵ 

15:3 In their streets they wear sackcloth;

on their roofs and in their town squares

all of them wail,

they fall down weeping.

Jeremiah 48:37

48:37 For all of them will shave their heads in mourning.

They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow.

They will all make gashes in their hands.

They will all put on sackcloth. ⁶ 

Amos 8:10

8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, ⁷ 

and all your songs into funeral dirges.

I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ⁸ 

and cause every head to be shaved bald. ⁹ 

I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ¹⁰ 

when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ¹¹ 

¹ tn Heb “and it will be in place of spices there will be a stench.” The nouns for “spices” and “stench” are right next to each other in the MT for emphatic contrast. The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

² tn Heb “house.”

³ tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.

⁴ tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”

⁵ sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.

⁶ tn Heb “upon every loin [there is] sackcloth.” The word “all” is restored here before “loin” with a number of Hebrew mss and a number of versions. The words “in mourning” and “to show their sorrow” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to give the average reader some idea of the significance of these acts.

⁷ tn Heb “mourning.”

⁸ tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”

⁹ tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).

¹⁰ tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.