16 Therefore the Lord, the God of Armies, the Lord, says:

There will be wailing in all the public squares;(A)
they will cry out in anguish[a] in all the streets.
The farmer will be called on to mourn,(B)
and professional mourners[b](C) to wail.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards,(D)
for I will pass among you.(E)
The Lord has spoken.

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!(F)
What will the day of the Lord be for you?
It will be darkness and not light.(G)
19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion(H)
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,(I)
even gloom without any brightness in it?(J)

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Footnotes

  1. 5:16 Lit will say, “Alas! Alas!”
  2. 5:16 Lit and those skilled in lamentation

16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:
In all the squares there shall be wailing,
    and in all the streets they shall say, “Alas! Alas!”
They shall call the farmers to mourning
    and those skilled in lamentation to wailing;(A)
17 in all the vineyards there shall be wailing,
    for I will pass through the midst of you,
            says the Lord.(B)

The Day of the Lord a Dark Day

18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
    Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light,(C)
19     as if someone fled from a lion
    and was met by a bear
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall
    and was bitten by a snake.(D)
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
    and gloom with no brightness in it?(E)

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