² Hear this, you elders,
And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!
^(B)Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?

^2 (A)A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
^(B)A people come, great and strong,
^(C)The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.

5 “Hear this, O priests!
Take heed, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For ^[a]yours is the judgment,
Because ^(A)you have been a snare to Mizpah
And a net spread on Tabor.

^7 (A)Alas! For that day is great,
^(B)So that none is like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble,
But he shall be saved out of it.

⁹ Now hear this,
You heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who abhor justice
And ^[a]pervert all equity,