The Lover to His Beloved: My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, ¹  as lovely as Jerusalem, ²  as awe-inspiring ³  as bannered armies!

If the Lord who commands armies ¹  had not left us a few survivors, we would have quickly become like Sodom, ²  we would have become like Gomorrah.

Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ¹  for ²  all the high and mighty, for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

Look, the sovereign Lord who commands armies ¹  is about to remove from Jerusalem ²  and Judah every source of security, including ³  all the food and water, ⁴ 

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 

The Lord who commands armies will be exalted ¹  when he punishes, ²  the sovereign God’s authority will be recognized when he judges. ³ 

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

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 

The people did not return to the one who struck them, they did not seek reconciliation ¹  with the Lord who commands armies.

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 

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.

At that time ¹  the Egyptians ²  will be like women. ³  They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them. ⁴ 

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.

For the Lord is angry at all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will annihilate them and slaughter them.