^3:1For now the Sovereign, the LORD of hosts,
          is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
     support and staff —
          all support of bread,
          and all support of water —
     ²warrior and soldier,
          judge and prophet,
          diviner and elder,
     ³captain of fifty
          and dignitary,
     counselor and skillful magician
          and expert enchanter.
     ⁴And I will make boys their princes,
          and babes shall rule over them.
     ⁵The people will be oppressed,
          everyone by another
          and everyone by a neighbor;
     the youth will be insolent to the elder,
          and the base to the honorable.

     ⁶Someone will even seize a relative,
          a member of the clan, saying,
     "You have a cloak;
          you shall be our leader,
     and this heap of ruins
          shall be under your rule."
     ⁷But the other will cry out on that day, saying,
     "I will not be a healer;
          in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
     you shall not make me
          leader of the people."
     ⁸For Jerusalem has stumbled
          and Judah has fallen,
     because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,
          defying his glorious presence.

     ⁹The look on their faces bears witness against them;
          they proclaim their sin like Sodom,
          they do not hide it.
     Woe to them!
          For they have brought evil on themselves.
     ¹⁰Tell the innocent how fortunate they are,
          for they shall eat the fruit of their labors.
     ¹¹Woe to the guilty! How unfortunate they are,
          for what their hands have done shall be done to them.
     ¹²My people — children are their oppressors,
          and women rule over them.
     O my people, your leaders mislead you,
          and confuse the course of your paths.

     ¹³The LORD rises to argue his case;
          he stands to judge the peoples.
     ¹⁴The LORD enters into judgment
          with the elders and princes of his people:
     It is you who have devoured the vineyard;
          the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
     ¹⁵What do you mean by crushing my people,
          by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord GOD of hosts.

     ¹⁶The LORD said:
     Because the daughters of Zion are haughty
          and walk with outstretched necks,
          glancing wantonly with their eyes,
     mincing along as they go,
          tinkling with their feet;
     ¹⁷the Lord will afflict with scabs
          the heads of the daughters of Zion,
          and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; ¹⁹the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarfs ²⁰the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; ²¹the signet rings and nose rings; ²²the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; ²³the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

     ²⁴Instead of perfume there will be a stench;
          and instead of a sash, a rope;
     and instead of well-set hair, baldness;
          and instead of a rich robe, a binding of sackcloth;
          instead of beauty, shame.
     ²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword
          and your warriors in battle.
     ²⁶And her gates shall lament and mourn;
          ravaged, she shall sit upon the ground.
     ^4:1Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying,
     "We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes;
     just let us be called by your name;
          take away our disgrace."

¹Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. ²For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; ⁴that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, ⁵not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. ⁸Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, ¹¹to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, ¹²so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one.

⁴¹Then he said to them, "How can they say that the Messiah is David's son? ⁴²For David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, ⁴³until I make your enemies your footstool."' ⁴⁴David thus calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?"

⁴⁵In the hearing of all the people he said to the disciples, ⁴⁶"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁷They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."

¹He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; ²he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ³He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; ⁴for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on."