Alas, sinful nation,
People weighed down with iniquity,
Offspring of evildoers,
Sons who act corruptly!
They have abandoned the Lord,
They have despised the Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away from Him.

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

When ye enter to see my face, Who hath required this at your hand trampling my courts?

Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow.

How the faithful city has become a harlot,
She who was full of justice!
Righteousness once lodged in her,
But now murderers.

Your chiefs have gone against the Lord, they have become friends of thieves; every one of them is looking for profit and going after rewards; they do not give right decisions for the child who has no father, and they do not let the cause of the widow come before them.

For this reason the Lord, the Lord of armies, the Strong One of Israel, has said, I will put an end to my haters, and send punishment on those who are against me;

Zion will be redeemed by justice, and those of her who repent, by righteousness.

And the downfall of transgressors and sinners, shall be, together, - And, they who forsake Yahweh, shall be brought to an end;

But thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they go far beyond the east countries in Sorcerers - who they have as the Philistines had - and in calkers of men's births, whereof they have too many.

For, a day of Yahweh of hosts, shall be - Upon every one who is high and lofty, - And upon every one who is lifted up, And he shall be brought low;

Cease to you from man of whom the breath is in his nose: for in what was he reckoned?

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

The strong man and the man of war; the judge and the prophet; the man who has knowledge of secret arts, and the man who is wise because of his years;

The captain of fifty, and the man of high position, and the wise guide, and the wonder-worker, and he who makes use of secret powers.

The people will treat each other harshly; men will oppose each other; neighbors will fight. Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected.

He will protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be a governor;
For in my house there is neither bread nor clothing;
You should not make me a judge and ruler of the people.”

My people! children, are their tyrants, And, women, rule over them, - My people! they who should lead thee forward, are causing thee to stray, Thy pathways, have they destroyed,

The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people,
“It is you who have devoured the vineyard;
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.

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

And Jerusalem’s gates will lament (cry out in grief) and mourn [as those who wail for the dead];
And she, being ruined and desolate, will sit upon the ground.

In that day will the young growth of the Lord be beautiful in glory, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride of those who are still living in Israel.

And it shall come to pass that he who remaineth in Zion, and he that is left in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem;

Then the LORD will create over the entire site of Mount Zion including over those who assemble there a cloud by day

What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Who knows? I looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded rotten grapes.

Indeed Israel is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies, the people of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice, but look what he got -- disobedience! He waited for fairness, but look what he got -- cries for help!

Alas for them who join house to house, Field to field, bring they near, - Until there is no room, But ye are left to dwell alone in the midst of the land.

The Lord who commands armies told me this: "Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.

Alas, for them who rise early in the morning that strong drink, they may pursue, - Who follow on in the evening cool until with wine, they are heated;

Therefore Sheol (the realm of the dead) has increased its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure;
And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her [boisterous] uproar and her [drunken] revelers descend into it.

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

Alas! for them Who draw on themselves punishment with cords of falsehood, - And as with waggon-bands, penalty:

Who say - Let his work quicken - let it hasten, That we may see, - And let the purpose of Israel's Holy One, draw near and come. That we may know!

Alas! for them Who call evil good and good evil, - Who put darkness for light and light for darkness, Who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Alas for them Who are wise in their own eyes, - And in their own sight, are prudent.

Alas for them Who are heroes to drink wine, - And men of valour to mingle strong drink,

Who justify the lawless, for a bribe, - Whereas the righteousness of the righteous, they take from him.

Therefore, as flaming fire devours straw, and dry grass disintegrates in the flames, so their root will rot, and their flower will blow away like dust. For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies, they have spurned the commands of the Holy One of Israel.

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

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

I said, "Too bad for me! I am destroyed, for my lips are contaminated by sin, and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies."

And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us).

For before the child will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land (Canaan) whose two kings you dread will be deserted [both Ephraim and Aram].

And they will give so much milk that he will be able to have butter for his food: for butter and honey will be the food of all who are still living in the land.

Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

“It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.

Then he will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he'll also be a stone with which someone strikes himself, a rock one stumbles over, a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem.

I will therefore long for Yahweh, Who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, - And will wait, for him.

Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.

But, when they say unto you - Seek ye unto the necromancers and unto the wizards, who chirp, and who mutter, Should not u people seek, unto its God? In behalf of the living, should it seek unto the dead?

for teaching and for testimony?" {surely they [who] speak like this have no dawn}.

They [who consult mediums and soothsayers] will pass through the land deeply distressed and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will become enraged and will curse their king and their God as they look upward.

For there is no gloom to her who had been in anguish, In the former time, he brought into dishonour The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, In the latter time, hath he brought into honour The Lake-way over the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

the people who were walking in darkness, Have seen a great light, - The dwellers in a land death-shadowed, A light, hath shined upon them.

and the people shall all of them know it - Ephraim and the dweller in Samaria - Who in pride and insolence of heart, are saying:

Aram on the east, and the Philistines on the west, who have come against Israel with open mouths. For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.

The head is the elder and honorable man,
And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.

And they who should have led this people forward have been causing them to stray, - And, they who are led of them are destroyed,

The land was dark with the wrath of the Lord of armies: the people were like those who take men's flesh for food.

Alas! for them who ordain iniquitous decree, - And, busy writers, who make a business of writing mischief:

Who do wrong to the poor in their cause, and take away the right of the crushed among my people, so that they may have the property of widows, and get under their power those who have no father.

And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners, or to fall among those who have been killed. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again.

Against an irreligious nation, will I send him, Yea against the people with whom I am wroth, will I command him, - To capture spoil And lay hold on prey, And cause them to be trodden down as the mire of the lanes.

As who say, "I were able to win the kingdom of the Idolaters and their gods, but not Jerusalem and Samaria.

He keeps bragging: "I've done it by the strength of my hand, and by my wisdom, because I'm so clever. I removed the boundaries of nations, and plundered their treasures; like a bull I brought down those who sat on thrones.

My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, have I gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped."

Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or, the saw, magnify itself, against him that wieldeth it? As if a rod, could wield, them who lift it up! As if a staff, could raise, what is, not wood!

For this reason the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. His majestic glory will go up in smoke.

And he will destroy the glory of his forest and orchard {completely}, and it will be like the wasting away of one who is sick.

And it will be in that day that the rest of Israel, and those of Jacob who have come safely through these troubles, will no longer go for help to him whose rod was on their back, but their faith will be in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

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

Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did.

The Lord who commands armies is about to beat them with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt.

Behold! the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, is about to lop off a tree-crown, with a crash, - Then shall, they who are lifted on high, be hewn down, And, the lofty, be laid low;

But he will judge with righteousness! them who are poor, And decide with equity! for the oppressed of the land, - And he will smite the land With the sceptre of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips, will he slay the lawless one;

Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.

And it shall come to pass in that day, That My Lord will again a second time set his hand, to possess himself of the remnant of his people, - who shall be left - from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Ethiopia and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the Coastlands of the sea;

And he will put up a flag as a sign to the nations, and he will get together those of Israel who had been sent away, and the wandering ones of Judah, from the four ends of the earth.

And the envy of Ephraim will be gone, and those who make trouble for Judah will come to an end: Ephraim will have no more envy of Judah, and there will be an end of Judah's hate for Ephraim.

So shall there be a highway for the remnant of his people who shall be left out of Assyria, - Like as it was to Israel, in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt!

Shout aloud, and sing for joy, you who live in Zion, because great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."

I have given orders to my holy ones, I have sent out my men of war, those of mine who take pride in their power, to give effect to my wrath.

A voice of a multitude in the mountains, A likeness of a numerous people, A voice of noise from the kingdoms of nations who are gathered, Jehovah of Hosts inspecting a host of battle!

They panic -- cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red.

So I will shake the heavens, and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies, in the day he vents his raging anger.

Everyone who is overtaken will have a spear put through him, and everyone who goes in flight will be put to the sword.

Behold me! stirring up against them the Medes, - Who of silver, shall take no account, And as for gold, they shall not delight in it;

People will never be living in it again, and it will have no more men from generation to generation: the Arab will not put up his tent there; and those who keep sheep will not make it a resting-place for their flocks.

For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob (the captives in Babylon) and will again choose Israel, and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners (Gentiles) will join them [as proselytes] and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob (Israel).

Many nations will take them and bring them to their land and their own place. The house of Israel will put those nations to conscripted labor in the LORD's land. They will take captive those who were their captors, and will rule continually over those who oppressed them.

That you will take up this bitter song against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the cruel overseer come to an end! He who was lifted up in pride is cut off;

He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.

"The afterlife below is all astir to meet you when you arrive; it rouses up the spirits of the dead to greet you everyone who used to be world leaders. It has raised up from their thrones all who used to be kings of the nations.

“How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!

They who see thee, upon thee, will gaze, Upon thee, will thoughtfully muse, - Is this the man who startled the earth? Who terrified kingdoms?

Who made the world like a desert And its cities, brake down? Its prisoners, he loosed not. Bach one to his home.

But you, like a birth before its time, are stretched out with no resting-place in the earth; clothed with the bodies of the dead who have been put to the sword, who go down to the lowest parts of the underworld; a dead body, crushed under foot.