The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
Parallel translations
- WEB the hand mirrors, the fine linen garments, the tiaras, and the shawls.
- BSB and their mirrors, linen garments, tiaras, and shawls.
- NKJV and the mirrors; The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.
- NASB papyrus garments, undergarments, headbands, and veils.
- NLT mirrors, fine linen garments, head ornaments, and shawls.
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
The inventory of finery closes with hand mirrors, fine linen, tiaras, and shawls. The long list ends, having stripped Jerusalem's daughters of every prized possession.
Overview
Mirrors and fine linen represent self-admiration and prosperity, while tiaras suggest a near-royal pride. The completed catalogue sets the stage for the stark reversal described in the next verse. Isaiah's point throughout is that misplaced trust in self and splendor invites the loss of it all.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gen 24:65For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.
- Gen 41:42And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
- Rev 19:14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
- Ruth 3:15Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city.
- 1 Chr 15:27And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen.
- Rev 19:8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
- Exod 38:8And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
- Ezek 16:10I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
- Luke 16:19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
- Song 5:7The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
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 3:23 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.