The Skeptics Annotated Bible (528 page)

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
:

(3.16)
“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.”

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.

(3.17)
“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.”

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,

19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

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 vails.

24 And it shall come to pass, that
instead of sweet smell there shall be stin
k; and instead of a girdle a rent; and
instead of well set hair baldnes
s; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth;
and burning instead of beauty.

(3.24) “Instead of sweet smell there shall be stink … instead of well set hair baldness … and burning instead of beauty.”

25
Thy men shall fall by the sword
, and thy mighty in the war.

(3.25)
“Thy men shall fall by the sword.”

26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

4
And
in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying
, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only
let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

(4.1) After God takes away women’s jewelry and perfume, “discovers their secret parts,” and makes them all bald and stinking, he’ll kill their husbands. Women will then become so desperate that “seven women will take hold of one man, saying, … let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”

(4.1)
“In that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, … let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”

2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

3 And it shall come to pass, that
he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem
:

(4.3)
“He that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem.”

(4.4-5) After God has “washed away the filth” from the women and killed the men, he’ll set up “a cloud and smoke by day” and a “flaming fire by night.”

113 Is only God holy?

4
When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem
from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and
by the spirit of burning
.

(4.4)
“When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem … by the spirit of burning.”

5 And
the LORD will create
upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies,
a cloud and smoke by day, and
the shining of
a flaming fire by night
: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

(4.5)
“The LORD will create … a cloud and smoke by day, and … a flaming fire by night.”

6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

5
Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.