says our protector – the Lord who commands armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel. ¹ 

¹ There is a loud noise on the mountains – it sounds like a large army! ²  There is great commotion among the kingdoms ³  – nations are being assembled! The Lord who commands armies is mustering forces for battle.

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.

All the stars in the sky will fade away, ¹  the sky will roll up like a scroll; all its stars will wither, like a leaf withers and falls from a vine or a fig withers and falls from a tree. 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 

Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord who commands 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.

Therefore, the sovereign Lord who commands armies, ¹  the powerful ruler of Israel, ²  says this: “Ah, I will seek vengeance ³  against my adversaries, I will take revenge against my enemies. ⁴ 

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;

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

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.

The sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, is certainly ready to carry out the decreed destruction throughout the land. ¹ 

Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. ¹  The tallest trees ²  will be cut down, the loftiest ones will be brought low.

“I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals ¹  and covered with pools of stagnant water. I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,” ²  says the Lord who commands armies.

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 

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 

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.