Add parallel Print Page Options

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.

Read full chapter

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)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

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