Isaiah 3:17

Good News Translation

But I will punish them—I will shave their heads and leave them bald."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
the Lord will put scabs on the headsof the daughters of Zion,and the Lord will shave their foreheads bare.

Hebrew Names Version
Therefore the Lord brings sores on the crown of the head of the women of Tziyon, And the LORD will make their scalps bald."

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.

New American Standard Bible
The Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, And the LORD will make their foreheads bare."

New Century Version
So the Lord will put sores on the heads of those women in Jerusalem, and he will make them lose their hair.

Amplified Bible
Therefore the Lord will afflict the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion with scabs [making them bald], And the LORD will expose their foreheads (send them into captivity)."

World English Bible
Therefore the Lord bring sores on the crown of the head of the women of Zion, And Yahweh will make their scalps bald."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Therefore shall the Lord make the heades of the daughters of Zion balde, and the Lord shall discouer their secrete partes.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore the Lord will smite the skull of the daughters of Zion with scabs,And Yahweh will make their foreheads bare."

Berean Standard Bible
the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.

Contemporary English Version
But I, the Lord , will cover their heads with sores, and I will uncover their private parts.

Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai will strike the crown of the heads of Tziyon's women with sores, and Adonai will expose their private parts."

Darby Translation
therefore the Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will lay bare their secret parts.

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord will put sores on the heads of those women in Zion. The Lord will make their heads bald.

George Lamsa Translation
Therefore the LORD will bring low the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD shall lay bare their secret parts.

Lexham English Bible
the Lord will make the heads of the daughters of Zion scabby, and Yahweh will lay their foreheads bare."

Literal Translation
So Jehovah will make the crown of the daughter of Zion scabby; and Jehovah will lay their secret parts bare.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore shal the LORDE shaue the heades of the doughters of Sion, and make their bewtie bare in that daye.

American Standard Version
therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will lay bare their secret parts.

Bible in Basic English
The Lord will send disease on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will let their secret parts be seen.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

King James Version (1611)
Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crowne of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discouer their secret parts.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Therfore shall the Lorde shaue the heades of the daughters of Sion, and shall discouer their filthinesse.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
therefore the Lord will humble the chief daughters of Sion, and the Lord will expose their form in that day;

English Revised Version
therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
the Lord schal make ballyd the nol of the douytris of Sion, and the Lord schal make nakid the heer of hem.

Update Bible Version
therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Yahweh will lay bare their secret parts.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will uncover their secret parts.

New English Translation
So the sovereign master will afflict the foreheads of Zion's women with skin diseases, the Lord will make the front of their heads bald."

New King James Version
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."

New Living Translation
So the Lord will send scabs on her head; the Lord will make beautiful Zion bald."

New Life Bible
So the Lord will make sores come upon the heads of the daughters of Zion, and take the hair from their head.

New Revised Standard
the Lord will afflict with scabs the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Therefore will My Lord, smite with leprosy the crown of hair of the daughters of Zion, - And, as for Yahweh, their shame, will he lay bare!

Douay-Rheims Bible
The Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Sion, and the Lord will discover their hair.

Revised Standard Version
the Lord will smite with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

Young's Literal Translation
The Lord also hath scabbed The crown of the head of daughters of Zion, And Jehovah their simplicity exposeth.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, And the LORD will make their foreheads bare."

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ The Lord said, "Look how proud the women of Jerusalem are! They walk along with their noses in the air. They are always flirting. They take dainty little steps, and the bracelets on their ankles jingle. ¹⁷ But I will punish them—I will shave their heads and leave them bald." ¹⁸ A day is coming when the Lord will take away from the women of Jerusalem everything they are so proud of—the ornaments they wear on their ankles, on their heads, on their necks, ¹⁹ and on their wrists. He will take away their veils ²⁰ and their hats; the magic charms they wear on their arms and at their waists; ²¹ the rings they wear on their fingers and in their noses; ²² all their fine robes, gowns, cloaks, and purses; ²³ their revealing garments, their linen handkerchiefs, and the scarves and long veils they wear on their heads. ²⁴ Instead of using perfumes, they will stink; instead of fine belts, they will wear coarse ropes; instead of having beautiful hair, they will be bald; instead of fine clothes, they will be dressed in rags; their beauty will be turned to shame! ²⁵ The men of the city, yes, even the strongest men, will be killed in war.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

smite: Leviticus 13:29, Leviticus 13:30, Leviticus 13:43, Leviticus 13:44, Deuteronomy 28:27, Revelation 16:2

discover: Heb. made naked, Isaiah 20:4, Isaiah 47:2, Isaiah 47:3, Jeremiah 13:22, Ezekiel 16:36, Ezekiel 16:37, Ezekiel 23:25-29, Micah 1:11, Nahum 3:5

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 28:35 - botch Job 2:7 - from the sole Isaiah 5:7 - oppression Isaiah 32:10 - Many days and years Jeremiah 6:2 - daughter Ezekiel 23:26 - fair jewels Hosea 2:10 - now

Cross-References

Genesis 3:2
"We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered,

Genesis 3:3
"except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die."

Genesis 3:5
God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad."

Genesis 3:6
The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it.

Genesis 3:7
As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.

Genesis 3:9
But the Lord God called out to the man, "Where are you?"

Genesis 3:11
"Who told you that you were naked?" God asked. "Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?"

Genesis 3:13
The Lord God asked the woman, "Why did you do this?" She replied, "The snake tricked me into eating it."

Genesis 3:14
Then the Lord God said to the snake, "You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live.

Genesis 3:16
And he said to the woman, "I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,.... This is opposed to the lifting up of their heads in that haughty manner they did, and to the binding, and plaiting, and curling of their hair, which now will fall off, through the scab or leprosy upon them, or must be obliged to be shaven off.

And the Lord will discover their secret parts; the Vulgate Latin renders it, "their hair", which is their glory, 1 Corinthians 11:6. The Targum is, "and the Lord shall take away their glory". The Syriac and Arabic versions render it "their sex", that which distinguishes their sex; of which Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it; than which nothing could be more distressing and intolerable, being worse than baldness of the head, and yet common with captives; and the Septuagint render it "their habit": the meaning is, they shall be stripped of their fine apparel, and be clothed in rags, so that their nakedness shall be seen. An enumeration of the several particulars follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab - There is some diversity of rendering to this expression. The Septuagint reads it: ‘The Lord will humble the principal daughters of Zion’ - those who belong to the court, or to the families of the princes. The Chaldee, ‘The Lord will prostrate the glory of the daughters of Zion.’ The Syriac is the same. The Hebrew word שׂפח s'ı̂phach, translated ‘will smite with a scab,’ means to “make bald,” particularly to make the hair fall off by sickness. Our translation conveys the idea essentially, that is, that God would visit them with disease that would remove the hair which they regarded as so great an ornament, and on which they so much prided themselves. Few things would be so degrading and humiliating as being thus made bald. The description in this verse means, that God would humble and punish them; that they who so adorned themselves, and who were so proud of their ornaments, would be divested of their joyful attire, and be borne naked into captivity in a foreign land.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 3:17. The Lord will smite - "Will the Lord humble"] ταπεινωσει, Septuagint; and so Syriac and Chaldee. For שפח sippach they read שפל shaphal. Instead of יהוה Yehovah, many MSS. have אדני Adonai.

Will discover their secret parts - "Expose their nakedness"] It was the barbarous custom of the conquerors of those times to strip their captives naked, and to make them travel in that condition, exposed to the inclemency of the weather; and the worst of all, to the intolerable heat of the sun. But this to the women was the height of cruelty and indignity; and especially to such as those here described, who had indulged themselves in all manner of delicacies of living, and all the superfluities of ornamental dress; and even whose faces had hardly ever been exposed to the sight of man. This is always mentioned as the hardest part of the lot of captives. Nahum, Isaiah 3:5; Isaiah 3:6, denouncing the fate of Nineveh, paints it in very strong colours: -

"Behold, I am against thee, saith JEHOVAH, God of hosts:

And I will discover thy skirts upon thy face;

And I will expose thy nakedness to the nations;

And to the kingdoms thy shame.

And I will throw ordures upon thee;

And I will make thee vile, and set thee as a gazing-stock."