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 

Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me ¹  are reminders and object lessons ²  in Israel, sent from the Lord who commands armies, who lives on Mount Zion.

For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as ¹  the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. ²  Destruction has been decreed; ³  just punishment ⁴  is about to engulf you. ⁵ 

Look, the Lord’s day of judgment ¹  is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, ²  destroying ³  the earth ⁴  and annihilating its sinners.

When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, ¹  and from the hard labor which you were made to perform,

“Bring a plan, make a decision! ¹  Provide some shade in the middle of the day! ²  Hide the fugitives! Do not betray ³  the one who tries to escape!

If the wicked are shown mercy, they do not learn about justice. ¹  Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; ²  they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.

For the fortified city ¹  is left alone; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the desert. Calves ²  graze there; they lie down there and eat its branches bare. ³ 

Who is the Lord ¹  trying to teach? To whom is he explaining a message? ²  Those just weaned from milk! Those just taken from their mother’s breast! ³ 

In the past he said to them, ¹  “This is where security can be found. Provide security for the one who is exhausted! This is where rest can be found.” ²  But they refused to listen.

On every high mountain and every high hill there will be streams flowing with water, at the time of ¹  great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.

you will be blessed, you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, ¹  you who let your ox and donkey graze. ² 

Sinners are afraid in Zion; panic ¹  grips the godless. ²  They say, ³  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire? Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ⁴  fire?’

The Lord is about to deliver me, ¹  and we will celebrate with music ²  for the rest of our lives in the Lord’s temple.” ³ 

From whom does he receive directions? ¹  Who ²  teaches him the correct way to do things, ³  or imparts knowledge to him, or instructs him in skillful design? ⁴ 

Who acts and carries out decrees? ¹  Who ²  summons the successive generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning, and at the very end – I am the one. ³ 

But the sovereign Lord helps me, so I am not humiliated. For that reason I am steadfastly resolved; ¹  I know I will not be put to shame.

Listen, ¹  your watchmen shout; in unison they shout for joy, for they see with their very own eyes ²  the Lord’s return to Zion.

They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched. ¹ 

The least of you will multiply into ¹  a thousand; the smallest of you will become a large nation. When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!” ²