16 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Lord,

“There is awailing in all the plazas,

And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’

They also call the bfarmer to mourning

And 1cprofessional mourners to lamentation.

17 “And in all the avineyards there is wailing,

Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.

18 Alas, you who are longing for the aday of the Lord,

For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?

It will be bdarkness and not light;

19 As when a man aflees from a lion

And a bear meets him,

1Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall

And a snake bites him.

20 Will not the day of the Lord be adarkness instead of light,

Even gloom with no brightness in it?

21 “I hate, I areject your festivals,

Nor do I 1bdelight in your solemn assemblies.

22 “Even though you aoffer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

And I will not even look at the bpeace offerings of your fatlings.

23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs;

I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

24 “But let ajustice roll down like waters

And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 “1aDid you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?

26 “aYou also carried along 1Sikkuth your king and 2Kiyyun, your images, 3the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.

27 “Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.