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24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices,[a]
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.
25 Your[b] men will fall by the sword,
your strong men will die in battle.[c]
26 Her gates will mourn and lament;
deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 3:24 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. Isaiah 3:25 tn The pronoun is feminine singular, suggesting personified Zion, as representative of its women, is the addressee. The reference to “her gates’ in v. 26 makes this identification almost certain.
  3. Isaiah 3:25 tn Heb “your strength in battle.” The verb in the first clause provides the verbal idea for the second clause.
  4. Isaiah 3:26 tn Heb “she will be empty, on the ground she will sit.” Jerusalem is personified as a destitute woman who sits mourning the empty city.