Why do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?” ¹  The sovereign Lord who commands armies ²  has spoken.

The Lord who commands armies told me this: ¹  “Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. ² 

They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy ¹  is the Lord who commands armies! ²  His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”

But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.

You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies. ¹  He is the one you must respect; he is the one you must fear. ² 

For this reason ¹  the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. ²  His majestic glory will go up in smoke. ³ 

“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, ¹  including the offspring she produces,” ²  says the Lord.

¹ 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.

Indeed, ¹  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? ² 

I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master; a powerful king will rule over them,” says the sovereign master, ¹  the Lord who commands armies.

But where, oh where, are your wise men? ¹  Let them tell you, let them find out what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.

The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, ¹  “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, ²  Israel!”

O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, ¹  what I have heard from the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you.

At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning, for shaved heads and sackcloth. ¹ 

This is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “Go visit this administrator, Shebna, who supervises the palace, ¹  and tell him: ² 

The Lord who commands armies planned it – to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty, ¹  to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.

At that time ¹  the Lord who commands armies will become a beautiful crown and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people.

Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies, ¹  accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise, by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.

Just as birds hover over a nest, ¹  so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. ²  He will protect and deliver it; as he passes over ³  he will rescue it.

“For a remnant will leave Jerusalem; survivors will come out of Mount Zion. The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies ¹  will accomplish this.