The Lord who commands armies told me this: ¹  “Certainly this sin will not be forgiven as long as you live,” ²  says the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies.

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 

Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says: “Look, I am laying ¹  a stone in Zion, an approved ²  stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ³  The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ⁴ 

So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ¹ 

For this is what the master, the Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: “If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; ¹  if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, ²  but you are unwilling.

The sovereign master ¹  will give you distress to eat and suffering to drink; ²  but your teachers will no longer be hidden; your eyes will see them. ³ 

Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them.

Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. ¹ 

Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp, I coo ¹  like a dove; my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ²  O sovereign master, ³  I am oppressed; help me! ⁴ 

Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; ¹  his military power establishes his rule. ²  Look, his reward is with him; his prize goes before him. ³ 

Approach me! Listen to this! From the very first I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, ¹  I am there.” So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. ² 

Look, the sovereign Lord helps me. Who dares to condemn me? Look, all of them will wear out like clothes; a moth will eat away at them.

For this is what the sovereign Lord says: “In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt; Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.

For just as the ground produces its crops and a garden yields its produce, so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance ¹  to grow, and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. ² 

So look, the sovereign master ¹  is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River ²  – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. ³ 

So the sovereign master was not pleased ¹  with their young men, he took no pity ²  on their orphans and widows; for the whole nation was godless ³  and did wicked things, ⁴  every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ⁵  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁶ 

But when ¹  the sovereign master ²  finishes judging ³  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ⁴  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ⁵ 

So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

At that time ¹  the sovereign master ²  will again lift his hand ³  to reclaim ⁴  the remnant of his people ⁵  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ⁶  Cush, ⁷  Elam, Shinar, ⁸  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ⁹ 

he will swallow up death permanently. ¹  The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face, and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. Indeed, the Lord has announced it! ²