1:2 Listen, O heavens,
pay attention, O earth!
For the Lord speaks:
“I raised children, I brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me!
1:9 If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors,
we would have quickly become like Sodom,
we would have become like Gomorrah.
1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city
has become a prostitute!
She was once a center of justice,
fairness resided in her,
but now only murderers.
1:29 Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees
you find so desirable;
you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards
where you choose to worship.
2:2 In the future
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure
as the most important of mountains,
and will be the most prominent of hills.
All the nations will stream to it,
2:11 Proud men will be brought low,
arrogant men will be humiliated;
the Lord alone will be exalted
in that day.
2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment,
for all the high and mighty,
for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;
2:19 They will go into caves in the rocky cliffs
and into holes in the ground,
trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord
and his royal splendor,
when he rises up to terrify the earth.
2:20 At that time men will throw
their silver and gold idols,
which they made for themselves to worship,
into the caves where rodents and bats live,
2:21 so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs
and the openings under the rocky overhangs,
trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord
and his royal splendor,
when he rises up to terrify the earth.
3:8 Jerusalem certainly stumbles,
Judah falls,
for their words and their actions offend the Lord;
they rebel against his royal authority.
3:14 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.
3:16 The Lord says,
“The women of Zion are proud.
They walk with their heads high
and flirt with their eyes.
They skip along
and the jewelry on their ankles jingles.
4:2 At that time
the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor;
the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight
to those who remain in Israel.
4:4 At that time the sovereign master will wash the excrement from Zion’s women,
he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst,
as he comes to judge
and to bring devastation.
5:9 The Lord who commands armies told me this:
“Many houses will certainly become desolate,
large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.
5:12 They have stringed instruments, tambourines, flutes,
and wine at their parties.
So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,
they do not perceive what he is bringing about.
5:13 Therefore my people will be deported
because of their lack of understanding.
Their leaders will have nothing to eat,
their masses will have nothing to drink.
7:18 At that time the Lord will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.
8:1 The Lord told me, “Take a large tablet and inscribe these words on it with an ordinary stylus: ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’
8:11 Indeed this is what the Lord told me. He took hold of me firmly and warned me not to act like these people:
8:13 You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies.
He is the one you must respect;
he is the one you must fear.
9:4 For their oppressive yoke
and the club that strikes their shoulders,
the cudgel the oppressor uses on them,
you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat.
9:19 Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched,
and the people became fuel for the fire.
People had no compassion on one another.
10:3 What will you do on judgment day,
when destruction arrives from a distant place?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard
will be completely destroyed,
as when a sick man’s life ebbs away.
10:20 At that time those left in Israel, those who remain of the family of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them. Instead they will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord.
He will not judge by mere appearances,
or make decisions on the basis of hearsay.
11:16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria
for the remnant of his people,
just as there was for Israel,
when they went up from the land of Egypt.
12:1 At that time you will say:
“I praise you, O Lord,
for even though you were angry with me,
your anger subsided, and you consoled me.
13:4 There is a loud noise on the mountains –
it sounds like a large army!
There is great commotion among the kingdoms –
nations are being assembled!
The Lord who commands armies is mustering
forces for battle.
13:5 They come from a distant land,
from the horizon.
It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment,
coming to destroy the whole earth.
13:9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment is coming;
it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger,
destroying the earth
and annihilating its sinners.
13:13 So I will shake the heavens,
and the earth will shake loose from its foundation,
because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies,
in the day he vents his raging anger.
14:1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; he will again choose Israel as his special people and restore them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family of Jacob.
14:22 “I will rise up against them,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people,
including the offspring she produces,”
says the Lord.
14:24 The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:
“Be sure of this:
Just as I have intended, so it will be;
just as I have planned, it will happen.
14:27 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has a plan,
and who can possibly frustrate it?
His hand is ready to strike,
and who can possibly stop it?
14:30 The poor will graze in my pastures;
the needy will rest securely.
But I will kill your root by famine;
it will put to death all your survivors.
14:32 How will they respond to the messengers of this nation?
Indeed, the Lord has made Zion secure;
the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.
15:9 Indeed, the waters of Dimon are full of blood!
Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon.
A lion will attack the Moabite fugitives
and the people left in the land.
17:3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,
and Damascus will lose its kingdom.
The survivors in Syria
will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
17:14 In the evening there is sudden terror;
by morning they vanish.
This is the fate of those who try to plunder us,
the destiny of those who try to loot us!
18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:
“I will wait and watch from my place,
like scorching heat produced by the sunlight,
like a cloud of mist in the heat of harvest.”
19:2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt,
brothers will fight with each other,
as will neighbors,
cities, and kingdoms.
19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men?
Let them tell you, let them find out
what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.
19:14 The Lord has made them undiscerning;
they lead Egypt astray in all she does,
so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit.
19:16 At that time the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them. 19:17 The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the Lord who commands armies is planning to do to them.
19:18 At that time five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun.
19:23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.
21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea:
Like strong winds blowing in the south,
one invades from the desert,
from a land that is feared.
21:4 My heart palpitates,
I shake in fear;
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
22:17 Look, the Lord will throw you far away, you mere man!
He will wrap you up tightly.
23:9 The Lord who commands armies planned it –
to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty,
to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.
23:12 He said,
“You will no longer celebrate,
oppressed virgin daughter Sidon!
Get up, travel to Cyprus,
but you will find no relief there.”
23:17 At the end of seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms.
24:1 Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth
and leave it in ruins;
he will mar its surface
and scatter its inhabitants.
24:5 The earth is defiled by its inhabitants,
for they have violated laws,
disregarded the regulation,
and broken the permanent treaty.
24:6 So a treaty curse devours the earth;
its inhabitants pay for their guilt.
This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear,
and are reduced to just a handful of people.
24:23 The full moon will be covered up,
the bright sun will be darkened;
for the Lord who commands armies will rule
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem
in the presence of his assembly, in majestic splendor.
25:7 On this mountain he will swallow up
the shroud that is over all the peoples,
the woven covering that is over all the nations;
25:10 For the Lord’s power will make this mountain secure.
Moab will be trampled down where it stands,
as a heap of straw is trampled down in a manure pile.
26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold,
O Lord, we wait for you.
We desire your fame and reputation to grow.
26:10 If the wicked are shown mercy,
they do not learn about justice.
Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly;
they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.
26:16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you;
they uttered incantations because of your discipline.
26:17 As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver
and strains and cries out because of her labor pains,
so were we because of you, O Lord.
26:21 For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives,
to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.
The earth will display the blood shed on it;
it will no longer cover up its slain.
27:3 I, the Lord, protect it;
I water it regularly.
I guard it night and day,
so no one can harm it.
27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root;
Israel will blossom and grow branches.
The produce will fill the surface of the world.
27:7 Has the Lord struck down Israel like he did their oppressors?
Has Israel been killed like their enemies?
27:12 At that time the Lord will shake the tree, from the Euphrates River to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites. 27:13 At that time a large trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;
indeed, every morning it will sweep by,
it will come through during the day and the night.”
When this announcement is understood,
it will cause nothing but terror.
29:1 Ariel is as good as dead –
Ariel, the town David besieged!
Keep observing your annual rituals,
celebrate your festivals on schedule.
29:6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies,
accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,
by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.
29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a strong urge to sleep deeply.
He has shut your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead,
who do their work in secret and boast,
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?”
30:1 “The rebellious children are as good as dead,” says the Lord,
“those who make plans without consulting me,
who form alliances without consulting my Spirit,
and thereby compound their sin.
30:23 He will water the seed you plant in the ground,
and the ground will produce crops in abundance.
At that time your cattle will graze in wide pastures.
31:5 Just as birds hover over a nest,
so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect and deliver it;
as he passes over he will rescue it.
32:20 you will be blessed,
you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams,
you who let your ox and donkey graze.
33:2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.
Give us strength each morning!
Deliver us when distress comes.
33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;
panic grips the godless.
They say, ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?
Who among us can coexist with unquenchable fire?’
33:23 Though at this time your ropes are slack,
the mast is not secured,
and the sail is not unfurled,
at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot;
even the lame will drag off plunder.
34:2 For the Lord is angry at all the nations
and furious with all their armies.
He will annihilate them and slaughter them.
34:17 He assigns them their allotment;
he measures out their assigned place.
They will live there permanently;
they will settle in it through successive generations.
35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way.
They will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them,
happiness and joy will overwhelm them;
grief and suffering will disappear.
37:32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies will accomplish this.
38:13 I cry out until morning;
like a lion he shatters all my bones;
you turn day into night and end my life.
38:15 What can I say?
He has decreed and acted.
I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief.
40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Another asks, “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds: “All people are like grass,
and all their promises are like the flowers in the field.
40:14 From whom does he receive directions?
Who teaches him the correct way to do things,
or imparts knowledge to him,
or instructs him in skillful design?
40:16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice;
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings.
41:20 I will do this so people will observe and recognize,
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord’s power has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.”
42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed
before establishing justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait in anticipation for his decrees.”
42:6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you;
I take hold of your hand.
I protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people,
and a light to the nations,
42:10 Sing to the Lord a brand new song!
Praise him from the horizon of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it,
you coastlands and those who live there!
42:19 My servant is truly blind,
my messenger is truly deaf.
My covenant partner, the servant of the Lord, is truly blind.
43:7 everyone who belongs to me,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed – yes, whom I made!
43:17 the one who led chariots and horses to destruction,
together with a mighty army.
They fell down, never to rise again;
they were extinguished, put out like a burning wick:
44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern.
45:7 I am the one who forms light
and creates darkness;
the one who brings about peace
and creates calamity.
I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.
45:24 they will say about me,
“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’”
All who are angry at him will cower before him.
48:12 Listen to me, O Jacob,
Israel, whom I summoned!
I am the one;
I am present at the very beginning
and at the very end.
49:25 Indeed,” says the Lord,
“captives will be taken from a warrior;
spoils will be rescued from a conqueror.
I will oppose your adversary
and I will rescue your children.
51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness,
who seek the Lord!
Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,
at the quarry from which you were dug!
51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!
Listen to me, my people!
For I will issue a decree,
I will make my justice a light to the nations.
51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who are aware of my law!
Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;
don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!
52:8 Listen, your watchmen shout;
in unison they shout for joy,
for they see with their very own eyes
the Lord’s return to Zion.
52:9 In unison give a joyful shout,
O ruins of Jerusalem!
For the Lord consoles his people;
he protects Jerusalem.
52:11 Leave! Leave! Get out of there!
Don’t touch anything unclean!
Get out of it!
Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items!
52:14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you)
he was so disfigured he no longer looked like a man;
54:14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you.
You will not experience oppression;
indeed, you will not be afraid.
You will not be terrified,
for nothing frightening will come near you.
56:4 For this is what the Lord says:
“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths
and choose what pleases me
and are faithful to my covenant,
57:5 you who practice ritual sex under the oaks and every green tree,
who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs.
57:19 I am the one who gives them reason to celebrate.
Complete prosperity is available both to those who are far away and those who are nearby,”
says the Lord, “and I will heal them.
59:9 For this reason deliverance is far from us
and salvation does not reach us.
We wait for light, but see only darkness;
we wait for a bright light, but live in deep darkness.
59:14 Justice is driven back;
godliness stands far off.
Indeed, honesty stumbles in the city square
and morality is not even able to enter.
59:17 He wears his desire for justice like body armor,
and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head.
He puts on the garments of vengeance
and wears zeal like a robe.
60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor of the Lord shines on you!
60:2 For, look, darkness covers the earth
and deep darkness covers the nations,
but the Lord shines on you;
his splendor appears over you.
60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads,
young camels from Midian and Ephah.
All the merchants of Sheba will come,
bringing gold and incense
and singing praises to the Lord.
60:21 All of your people will be godly;
they will possess the land permanently.
I will plant them like a shoot;
they will be the product of my labor,
through whom I reveal my splendor.
60:22 The least of you will multiply into a thousand;
the smallest of you will become a large nation.
When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!”
61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice
and hate robbery and sin.
I will repay them because of my faithfulness;
I will make a permanent covenant with them.
62:2 Nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your splendor.
You will be called by a new name
that the Lord himself will give you.
62:6 I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they should keep praying all day and all night.
You who pray to the Lord, don’t be silent!
62:9 But those who harvest the grain will eat it,
and will praise the Lord.
Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine
in the courts of my holy sanctuary.”
62:12 They will be called, “The Holy People,
the Ones Protected by the Lord.”
You will be called, “Sought After,
City Not Abandoned.”
63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze,
so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.
In this way you guided your people,
gaining for yourself an honored reputation.
64:8 Yet, Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the product of your labor.
64:9 Lord, do not be too angry!
Do not hold our sins against us continually!
Take a good look at your people, at all of us!
64:12 In light of all this, how can you still hold back, Lord?
How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?
65:3 These people continually and blatantly offend me
as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards
and burn incense on brick altars.
66:1 This is what the Lord says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where then is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?
66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,
his chariots come like a windstorm,
to reveal his raging anger,
his battle cry, and his flaming arrows.