the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”
Parallel translations
- WEB therefore the Lord brings sores on the crown of the head of the women of Zion, and Yahweh will make their scalps bald.”
- KJV Therefore the LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.
- NKJV Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And the Lord will uncover their secret parts.”
- NASB The Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, And the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”
- NLT So the Lord will send scabs on her head; the Lord will make beautiful Zion bald.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Therefore the Lord will afflict the proud women of Zion with sores and baldness. Their vanity will be turned into shame and humiliation.
Overview
The judgment fittingly reverses their pride, replacing beauty and adornment with disgrace. This is a vivid instance of God humbling the haughty, a theme central to this section of Isaiah. It warns that all pride will ultimately be brought low before the holy God, who exalts the humble in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 13:22And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.
- Mic 1:11Depart in shameful nakedness, O dwellers of Shaphir. The dwellers of Zaanan will not come out. Beth-ezel is in mourning; its support is taken from you.
- Isa 20:4so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.
- Rev 16:2So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and loathsome, malignant sores broke out on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
- Lev 13:43–44The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the infection on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white like a skin disease,
- Lev 13:29–30If a man or woman has an infection on the head or chin,
- Isa 47:2–3Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
- Deut 28:27The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.
- Nah 3:5“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms.
- Ezek 23:25–29And I will set My jealous rage against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your remnant will be consumed by fire.
- Ezek 16:36–37This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 3:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.