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.

“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.

Indeed, they live in the holy city; they trust in the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord who commands armies.

I am the Lord your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves surge. The Lord who commands armies is his name!

The Lord said to the people of Judah, “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!

“Therefore, the Lord who rules over all says, ‘You have not listened to what I said.

“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.

“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says to all those he sent into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem,

The Lord who rules over all said, “I will kill all the archers of Elam, who are the chief source of her military might.

“Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,” says the Lord God who rules over all. “Indeed, your day of reckoning has come, the time when I will punish you.

The Lord who rules over all has solemnly sworn, ‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers. They will swarm over it like locusts. They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’

It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, from whom the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary was thrown down.

The army was given over, along with the daily sacrifice, in the course of his sinful rebellion. It hurled truth to the ground and enjoyed success.

Listen and warn the family of Jacob! The sovereign Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking!

and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord. He is called the God who commands armies!

I will remove those who worship the stars in the sky from their rooftops, those who swear allegiance to the Lord while taking oaths in the name of their ‘king,’

This is how they will be repaid for their arrogance, for they taunted and verbally harassed the people of the Lord who commands armies.

Here then is what the Lord who rules over all says: ‘Think carefully about what you are doing.

“The Lord who rules over all says, ‘Ask the priests about the law.

“‘It then came about that just as I cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord Lord who rules over all had said.