Yesaya 3:24

3:24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, ¹ 

a rope will replace a belt,

baldness will replace braided locks of hair,

a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,

and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.

Yehezkiel 27:31

27:31 they will tear out their hair because of you and put on sackcloth,

and they will weep bitterly over you with intense mourning. ² 

Amos 8:10

8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, ³ 

and all your songs into funeral dirges.

I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ⁴ 

and cause every head to be shaved bald. ⁵ 

I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ⁶ 

when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ⁷ 

[3:24]  ¹ tn Heb “and it will be in place of spices there will be a stench.” The nouns for “spices” and “stench” are right next to each other in the MT for emphatic contrast. The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[27:31]  ² tn Heb “and they will weep concerning you with bitterness of soul, (with) bitter mourning.”

[8:10]  ³ tn Heb “mourning.”

[8:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”

[8:10]  sn Mourners wore sackcloth (funeral clothes) as an outward expression of grief.

[8:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).

[8:10]  sn Shaving the head or tearing out one’s hair was a ritual act of mourning. See Lev 21:5; Deut 14:1; Isa 3:24; 15:2; Jer 47:5; 48:37; Ezek 7:18; 27:31; Mic 1:16.

[8:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”

[8:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.