THE DAY OF THE LORD

18 Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!n

What will the day of the Lord be for you?

It will be darkness and not light.o

19 It will be like a man who flees from a lionp

only to have a bear confront him.

He goes home and rests his hand against the wall

only to have a snake bite him.

20 Won’t the day of the Lord

be darkness rather than light,q

even gloom without any brightness in it?r

21 I hate, I despise, your feasts!s

I can’t stand the stench

of your solemn assemblies.t

22 Even if you offer me

your burnt offerings and grain offerings,u

I will not accept them;v

I will have no regard

for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.w

23 Take away from me the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.x

24 But let justice flow like water,

and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.y