^aFor behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah, the stay and the staff, the whole staff of bread, and the whole stay of water—

 2 The ^amighty man, and the man of ^bwar, the judge, and the prophet, and the ^cprudent, and the ancient;

 3 The captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

 4 And I will give children unto them to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

 5 And the people shall be ^aoppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor; the child shall behave himself ^bproudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable.

 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, and shall say: Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let not this ^aruin come under thy hand—

 7 In that day shall he swear, saying: I will not be a healer; for in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; make me not a ruler of the people.

 8 For Jerusalem is ^aruined, and Judah is ^bfallen, because their ^ctongues and their doings have been against the Lord, to ^dprovoke the eyes of his glory.

 9 The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and doth declare their ^asin to be even as ^bSodom, and they cannot hide it. Wo unto their souls, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves!