Isaiah 3:13-15

3:13 The Lord takes his position to judge;

he stands up to pass sentence on his people. ¹ 

3:14 The Lord comes to pronounce judgment

on the leaders of his people and their officials.

He says, ²  “It is you ³  who have ruined ⁴  the vineyard! ⁵ 

You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor. ⁶ 

3:15 Why do you crush my people

and grind the faces of the poor?” ⁷ 

The sovereign Lord who commands armies ⁸  has spoken.

[3:13]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has “nations,” but the preceding and following contexts make it clear that the Lord is judging his covenant people. עָמִים (’amim) should be changed (with support from the LXX) to עמו. The final mem (ם) on the form in the Hebrew is either dittographic or enclitic. When the mem was added or read as a plural ending, the vav (ו) was then misread as a yod (י).

[3:14]  ² tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:14]  ³ tn The pronominal element is masculine plural; the leaders are addressed.

[3:14]  ⁴ tn The verb בָּעַר (ba’ar, “graze, ruin”; HALOT 146 s.v. II בער) is a homonym of the more common בָּעַר (ba’ar, “burn”; see HALOT 145 s.v. I בער).

[3:14]  ⁵ sn The vineyard is a metaphor for the nation here. See 5:1-7.

[3:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “the plunder of the poor [is] in your houses” (so NASB).

[3:15]  ⁷ sn The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s outrage at what the leaders have done to the poor. He finds it almost unbelievable that they would have the audacity to treat his people in this manner.

[3:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at 1:9.