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.”
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.
- BSB the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”
- 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 13:22If you say in your heart, “Why are these things come on me?” For the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered, and your heels suffer violence.
- Mic 1:11Pass on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitant of Zaanan won’t come out. The wailing of Beth Ezel will take from you his protection.
- Isa 20:4so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
- Rev 16:2The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image.
- Lev 13:43–44Then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the rising of the plague is reddish-white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the flesh,
- Lev 13:29–30“When a man or woman has a plague on the head or on the beard,
- Isa 47:2–3Take the millstones, and grind flour. Remove your veil, lift up your skirt, uncover your legs, and wade through the rivers.
- Deut 28:27Yahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed.
- Nah 3:5“Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
- Ezek 23:25–29I will set my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in fury; they will take away your nose and your ears; and your remnant will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your residue will be devoured by the fire.
- Ezek 16:36–37‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.