Isaiah 3:15

New Living Translation

How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?" demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Why do you crush my peopleand grind the faces of the poor?”

Hebrew Names Version
What do you mean that you crush my people, And grind the face of the poor?" says the Lord, the LORD of Hosts.

King James Version
What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.

English Standard Version
What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?" declares the Lord God of hosts.

New American Standard Bible
"What do you mean by crushing My people And oppressing the face of the poor?" Declares the Lord GOD of armies.

New Century Version
What gives you the right to crush my people and grind the faces of the poor into the dirt?" The Lord God All-Powerful says this.

Amplified Bible
"What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the face of the poor?" Declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

World English Bible
What do you mean that you crush my people, And grind the face of the poor?" says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts.

Geneva Bible (1587)
What haue ye to do, that ye beate my people to pieces, and grinde the faces of the poore, saith the Lord, euen tho Lord of hostes?

Legacy Standard Bible
What do you mean by crushing My peopleAnd grinding the face of the afflicted?"Declares Lord Yahweh of hosts.

Berean Standard Bible
Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?" declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

Contemporary English Version
The Lord All-Powerful says, "You have crushed my people and rubbed in the dirt the faces of the poor."

Complete Jewish Bible
What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding down the faces of the poor?" says Adonai Elohim -Tzva'ot.

Darby Translation
What mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the faces of the afflicted? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

Easy-to-Read Version
What gives you the right to hurt my people? What gives you the right to push the faces of the poor into the dirt?" The Lord God All-Powerful said this.

George Lamsa Translation
Why did you sting my people, and shame the faces of the poor? says the LORD of hosts.

Good News Translation
You have no right to crush my people and take advantage of the poor. I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, have spoken."

Lexham English Bible
Why do you crush my people and grind the face of the poor?" declares the Lord Yahweh of hosts.

Literal Translation
What do you mean that you crush My people, and grind the faces of the poor, says the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Wherfore do ye oppresse my people, and marre ye faces of the innocentes? thus shal the God of hoostes reuyle them.

American Standard Version
what mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the face of the poor? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

Bible in Basic English
By what right are you crushing my people, and putting a bitter yoke on the necks of the poor? This is the word of the Lord, the Lord of armies.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
What mean ye that ye crush My people, and grind the face of the poor?' saith the Lord, the GOD of hosts.

King James Version (1611)
What meane yee that yee beat my people to pieces, and grinde the faces of the poore, saith the Lord God of hosts?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
What meane ye that ye bray [as in a morter] my people, and grinde the faces of the poore? saith the Lorde God of hoastes.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Why do ye wrong my people, and shame the face of the poor?

English Revised Version
what mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the face of the poor? saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whi al to-breken ye my puple, and grynden togidere the faces of pore men? seith the Lord God of oostis.

Update Bible Version
what do you mean that you crush my people, and grind the face of the poor? says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

Webster's Bible Translation
What mean ye [that] ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

New English Translation
Why do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?" The sovereign Lord who commands armies has spoken.

New King James Version
What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the faces of the poor?" Says the Lord GOD of hosts.

New Life Bible
What do you mean by crushing My people, and grinding the faces of the poor?" says the Lord God of All.

New Revised Standard
What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
What right have ye to crush my people, And the faces of the oppressed, to grind? Demandeth My Lord Yahweh of hosts - And Yahweh saith -

Douay-Rheims Bible
Why do you consume my people, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord the God of hosts.

Revised Standard Version
What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?" says the Lord GOD of hosts.

Young's Literal Translation
What -- to you? ye bruise My people, And the faces of the poor ye grind.' An affirmation of the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, And Jehovah saith:

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the face of the poor?" Declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

Contextual Overview

⁹ The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don't even try to hide it. They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves. ¹⁰ Tell the godly that all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned! ¹¹ But the wicked are doomed, for they will get exactly what they deserve. ¹² Childish leaders oppress my people, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you; they send you down the wrong road. ¹³ The Lord takes his place in court and presents his case against his people. ¹⁴ The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment on the elders and rulers of his people: "You have ruined Israel, my vineyard. Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor. ¹⁵ How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?" demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

What mean: Ezekiel 18:2, Jonah 1:6

ye beat: Isaiah 58:4, Exodus 5:14, Amos 2:6, Amos 2:7, Amos 8:4-6, Micah 3:2, Micah 3:3

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 24:17 - pervert Job 22:4 - will he enter Psalms 10:9 - when Psalms 94:5 - break Ecclesiastes 5:8 - regardeth Ezekiel 16:49 - neither Acts 21:13 - What Acts 21:32 - beating James 2:6 - Do

Cross-References

Genesis 3:1
The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"

Genesis 3:3
"It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'"

Genesis 3:4
"You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman.

Genesis 3:6
The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

Genesis 3:7
At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

Genesis 3:8
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.

Genesis 3:10
He replied, "I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God asked the woman, "What have you done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied. "That's why I ate it."

Genesis 3:14
Then the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.

Genesis 3:15
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

What mean ye, [that] ye beat my people to pieces,.... Reduce them to the utmost poverty; so the Targum,

"wherefore do ye impoverish my people?''

as they did by exacting tithes of all that they possessed; by requiring large sums for their long prayers; and by various traditions they enjoined them to observe:

and grind the faces of the poor? either by smiting them on the cheek, as Christ, who became poor for our sakes, was smitten by them; or by bringing them into such low circumstances, by their exorbitant demands, that they had not sufficiency of food to eat; by which means their faces became pale, thin, and meagre:

saith the Lord God of Hosts: who saw all their actions, and was able to plead his people's cause, and take vengeance on their oppressors.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

What mean ye - What is your object? Or, What advantage is it to you? Or, By what right or pretence do you do this?

Beat my people to pieces - That is, that you trample on them; or cruelly oppress them; Psalms 94:5.

And grind the faces of the poor - This is an expression also denoting great oppression. It is taken from the act of grinding a substance on a stone until it is worn away and nothing is left. So, by their cruel exactions, by their injustice to the poor, they exhausted their little property until nothing was left. The word “faces” here is synonymous with “persons” - or with the poor themselves. The word “face” is often used in the sense of “person;” Exodus 33:14; 2 Samuel 18:11. A similar description, though in still stronger language, is found in Micah 3:2-3 :

Who pluck off their skin from off them,

And their flesh from off their bones;

Who also eat the flesh of my people,

And flay their skin from off them;

And they break their bones, and chop them in pieces,

As for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 3:15. And grind the faces — The expression and the image is strong, to denote grievous oppression but is exceeded by the prophet Micah, Micah 3:1-3: -

"Hear, I pray you, ye chiefs of Jacob,

And ye princes of the house of Israel:

Is it not yours to know what is right?

Ye that hate good and love evil:

Who tear their skins from off them,

And their flesh from off their bones;

Who devour the flesh of my people;

And flay from off them their skin;

And their bones they dash in pieces;

And chop them asunder, as morsels for the pot:

And as flesh thrown into the midst of the caldron."

In the last line but one, for כאשר keasher, read, by the transposition of a letter, כשאר kisher, with the Septuagint and Chaldee.