Isa 3:14-15 | NETfull | STEP | The Lord comes to pronounce judgment on the leaders of his people and their officials. He says, “It is you who have ruined the vineyard! You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor.

Isaiah 3:14-15

14 The Lord comes to pronounce judgment
on the leaders of his people and their officials.
He says, ^{▼▼ The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.} “It is you ^{▼▼ The pronominal element is masculine plural; the leaders are addressed.} who have ruined ^{▼▼ The verb בָּעַר (ba’ar, “graze, ruin”; HALOT 146 s.v. II בער) is a homonym of the more common בָּעַר (ba’ar, “burn”; see HALOT 145 s.v. I בער).} the vineyard! ^{▼▼ The vineyard is a metaphor for the nation here. See 5:1–7.}
You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor. ^{▼▼ Heb “the plunder of the poor [is] in your houses” (so NASB).}
15 Why do you crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor?” ^{▼▼ The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s outrage at what the leaders have done to the poor. He finds it almost unbelievable that they would have the audacity to treat his people in this manner.}
The sovereign Lord who commands armies ^{▼▼ Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at 1:9.} ^{▼▼ The use of this title, which also appears in v. 1, forms an inclusio around vv. 1–15. The speech begins and ends with a reference to “the master, the Lord who commands armies.”} has spoken.