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16 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says:

“There will be crying in all the public squares
    and mourning in every street.
Call for the farmers to weep with you,
    and summon professional mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing in every vineyard,
    for I will destroy them all,”
    says the Lord.

Warning of Coming Judgment

18 What sorrow awaits you who say,
    “If only the day of the Lord were here!”
You have no idea what you are wishing for.
    That day will bring darkness, not light.
19 In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion—
    only to meet a bear.
Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house—
    and he’s bitten by a snake.
20 Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless,
    without a ray of joy or hope.

21 “I hate all your show and pretense—
    the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.
22 I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings.
    I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.
23 Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
    an endless river of righteous living.

25 “Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel? 26 No, you served your pagan gods—Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god—the images you made for yourselves. 27 So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus,[a]” says the Lord, whose name is the God of Heaven’s Armies.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:26-27 Greek version reads No, you carried your pagan gods—the shrine of Molech, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made for yourselves. So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus. Compare Acts 7:43.

16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing(A) in all the streets(B)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers(C) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing(D) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through(E) your midst,”
says the Lord.(F)

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!(G)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?(H)
    That day will be darkness,(I) not light.(J)
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,(K)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.(L)
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,(M) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?(N)

21 “I hate,(O) I despise your religious festivals;(P)
    your assemblies(Q) are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings(R) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.(S)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.(T)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.(U)
24 But let justice(V) roll on like a river,
    righteousness(W) like a never-failing stream!(X)

25 “Did you bring me sacrifices(Y) and offerings
    forty years(Z) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
    the pedestal of your idols,(AA)
    the star of your god[a]
    which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exile(AB) beyond Damascus,”
    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.(AC)

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 5:26 Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols