1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
God is fixing to punish and it will include the very sustenance of life.
2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
3 The captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Everyone will be affected.
4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
They will have the indignities of being subject to those they should be leading; children.
5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable.
All of society will be turned upside down.
6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, “Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:”
All criteria for choosing leaders (generally, bloodlines) will be removed and anyone with the bare necessities of life will seem worthy to lead.
7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be a healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.
No one will want the job of being in charge and being responsible.
8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory.
Because of Judah’s sin, she will be destroyed.
This prophecy was given before even Israel was taken captive. It will be a hundred years or so before it is fulfilled by the Babylonian army.
9 The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
Judah has sinned and not even bothered to hide it. In fact, they are bragging about it!
10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
Everyone will be rewarded according to their works; the good preserved and blessed, the wicked punished.
12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
Men who willingly submit to women and children aren’t men. They are little kids in adult bodies.
Women, by virtue of the biology given by God, are to rule the house and nurture tomorrow’s leaders and mothers. This is their rightful kingdom.
Men are to BE those rulers of today. If they back out and let the women do it, it overburdens and distracts the women, leaves the children un-nurtured, and gives the men nothing to do but be idle, selfish and cause trouble.
It is a curse to have women ruling.
Not to say God doesn’t occasionally use a willing woman leader. He did in the case of the prophetess Deborah. She was a woman whose neighbors couldn't help noticing her extreme wisdom, so they brought their problems to her to be judged. When the time of war came, God gave her word to tell the leading man to go fight and how. He refused to do so unless she (a woman) came with him. As a result, God took the glory of his victory and gave it to a woman. No one remembers his name, but most know the story of Jabil who drove the tent stake through the enemy’s head.
13 The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
God’s not on vacation. He sees what is going on.
14 The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of His people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
The ones called to lead have abused their power. God will punish them for it.
15 “What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor?” saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
“How dare you mistreat My children!”
16 Moreover the LORD saith, “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
The women are stuck up snobs, all decorated and proud.
17 “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.”
Disease will cause their (most women’s) greatest beauty, their hair, to fall out and their heads to be scabby. You just can’t look pretty under these conditions.
It was common when one country conquered another for them to strip the captives naked so they could have their clothes.
18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
Judean women evidently decorated their feet with bells so they would sound pretty as they walked.
Cauls is decorative headbands.
The “round tires like the moon” are called “crescent necklaces” in other translations.
God is going to take all their pretties away.
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
Newer translations call “mufflers” veils.
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
“Scarves, ankle bracelets, sashes, perfumes, and charms;” –New Living Translation.
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils.
“21 rings, jewels,
22 party clothes, gowns, capes, and purses;
23 mirrors, fine linen garments, head ornaments, and shawls.” –New Living Translation
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle (fancy belt) a rent (rope); and instead of well-set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher (fancy clothes) a girding of sackcloth (burlap); and burning instead of beauty.
25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.
The men were leaving the hard job of ruling to the women and the women were focused on looking good.
Though there is nothing wrong with looking pleasant, it should not be our primary goal in life, but nearly and afterthought.
Women should be focused on raising the next generation to be honorable people who glorify God.