Isaiah 3:4

The NET Bible®

The Lord says, "I will make youths their officials; malicious young men will rule over them.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“I will make youths their leaders,and unstable rulers will govern them.”

Hebrew Names Version
I will give boys to be their princes, And children shall rule over them.

King James Version
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

English Standard Version
And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them.

New American Standard Bible
And I will make mere boys their leaders, And mischievous children will rule over them,

New Century Version
The Lord says, "I will cause young boys to be your leaders, and foolish children will rule over you.

Amplified Bible
And I will make mere boys their princes, And capricious (impulsive, unpredictable) children will rule over them.

World English Bible
I will give boys to be their princes, And children shall rule over them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And I will appoint children to bee their princes, and babes shall rule ouer them.

Legacy Standard Bible
And I will make young men their princes,And capricious children will rule over them,

Berean Standard Bible
"I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them."

Contemporary English Version
He will let children and babies become your rulers.

Complete Jewish Bible
I will put children in authority; capriciousness will govern them.

Darby Translation
And I will appoint youths as their princes, and children shall rule over them.

Easy-to-Read Version
He says, "I will put young boys in charge of you. They will be your leaders.

George Lamsa Translation
And I will appoint young men to be their princes, and mockers shall rule over them.

Good News Translation
The Lord will let the people be governed by immature boys.

Lexham English Bible
And I will make boys their princes, and children shall rule over them.

Literal Translation
And I will give young boys to be their rulers, and caprices shall rule over them.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And I shal geue you children to be youre prynces (saieth the LORDE) and babes shall haue the rule of you.

American Standard Version
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

Bible in Basic English
And I will make children their chiefs, and foolish ones will have rule over them.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

King James Version (1611)
And I will giue children to bee their Princes, and babes shall rule ouer them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And I shall geue children to be their princes, and babes shall rule ouer them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I will make youths their princes, and mockers shall have dominion over them.

English Revised Version
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y schal yyue children the princes of hem, and men of wymmens condiciouns schulen be lordis of hem.

Update Bible Version
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

Webster's Bible Translation
And I will give children [to be] their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

New King James Version
"I will give children to be their princes, And babes shall rule over them.

New Living Translation
I will make boys their leaders, and toddlers their rulers.

New Life Bible
I will make boys their rulers. Foolish children will rule over them.

New Revised Standard
And I will make boys their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And I will appoint boys to be their princes, - And, petulant children, shall rule over them,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them.

Revised Standard Version
And I will make boys their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

Young's Literal Translation
And I have made youths their heads, And sucklings rule over them.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And I will make mere lads their princes, And capricious children will rule over them,

Contextual Overview

¹ Look, the sovereign Lord who commands armies is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah every source of security, including all the food and water, ² the mighty men and warriors, judges and prophets, omen readers and leaders, ³ captains of groups of fifty, the respected citizens, advisers and those skilled in magical arts, and those who know incantations. ⁴ The Lord says, "I will make youths their officials; malicious young men will rule over them. ⁵ The people will treat each other harshly; men will oppose each other; neighbors will fight. Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. ⁶ Indeed, a man will grab his brother right in his father's house and say, ‘You own a coat— you be our leader! This heap of ruins will be under your control.' ⁷ At that time the brother will shout, ‘I am no doctor, I have no food or coat in my house; don't make me a leader of the people!'" ⁸ Jerusalem certainly stumbles, Judah falls, for their words and their actions offend the Lord ; they rebel against his royal authority.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

children: 1 Kings 3:7-9, 2 Chronicles 33:1, 2 Chronicles 34:1, 2 Chronicles 36:2, 2 Chronicles 36:5, 2 Chronicles 36:9, 2 Chronicles 36:11, Ecclesiastes 10:16

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 22:1 - eight years old 2 Chronicles 13:7 - young Proverbs 30:22 - a servant Isaiah 3:12 - children Isaiah 51:18 - none Jeremiah 52:3 - through

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

Deuteronomy 29:19
When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, "I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit." This will destroy the watered ground with the parched.

2 Kings 1:4
Therefore this is what the Lord says, "You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!"'" So Elijah went on his way.

2 Kings 1:6
They replied, "A man came up to meet us. He told us, "Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: "You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die."'"

2 Kings 1:16
Elijah said to the king, "This is what the Lord says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle! Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.'"

2 Kings 8:10
Elisha said to him, "Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,' but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die."

Psalms 10:11
He says to himself, "God overlooks it; he does not pay attention; he never notices."

2 Corinthians 2:11
so that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes).

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

1 Timothy 2:14
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And I will give children [to be] their princes,.... Either in age, or in understanding, who are really so, or act like such; and in either sense, when this is the case, it is an unhappiness to a nation, Ecclesiastes 10:16:

and babes shall rule over them; which is the same as before. The Targum is,

"the weak shall rule over them;''

such who are weak in their intellectuals, or are of mean pusillanimous spirits, "effeminate", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; and so as "children" are opposed to the "ancient", that should be taken away, these are opposed to "men of might" and courage, who would now be wanting: or "men of illusions", as in the margin; such as were subtle as foxes, and should deceive them, and impose upon them, and were audacious and impudent, and would mock at them, and despise them. So Jarchi and Abarbinel; and according to this sense of the word the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "mockers shall rule over them".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And I will give children - Not children in respect to age so much as in regard to talent for governing. I will commit the land to the government of weak and imbecile princes. This would naturally occur when the wise and great were removed; compare Ecclesiastes 10:16 : ‘Wo to thee, O land, when thy king is a child;’ compare Isaiah 3:12.

And babes shall rule ... - That is, babes in experience and knowledge. This was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes that succeeded Isaiah, until the time of Zedekiah, the last of them, when the temple was taken by Nebuchadnezzar. - “Lowth.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 3:4. I will give children to be their princes - "I will make boys their princes"] This also was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes, from the death of Josiah to the destruction of the city and temple, and the taking of Zedekiah, the last of them, by Nebuchadnezzar.

Babes shall rule over them. — Dymennysche men schul lordschopen to hem. - Old MS. Bible.