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¹⁵ Hate evil and love good,
   and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
   will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

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;
¹⁷ in all the vineyards there shall be wailing,
   for I will pass through the midst of you,

says the Lord.

The Day of the Lord a Dark Day

¹⁸ Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
   Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
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.
²⁰ Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
   and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹ I hate, I despise your festivals,
   and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
²² Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
   I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
   I will not look upon.
²³ Take away from me the noise of your songs;
   I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
²⁴ But let justice roll down like waters,
   and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? ²⁶You shall take up Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god, your images^* that you made for yourselves; ²⁷therefore I will take you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

Complacent Self-Indulgence Will Be Punished

6Alas for those who are at ease in Zion,
   and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
the notables of the first of the nations,
   to whom the house of Israel resorts!
² Cross over to Calneh, and see;
   from there go to Hamath the great;
   then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better^* than these kingdoms?
   Or is your^* territory greater than their^* territory,
³ O you that put far away the evil day,
   and bring near a reign of violence?

⁴ Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory,
   and lounge on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock,
   and calves from the stall;
⁵ who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
   and like David improvise on instruments of music;
⁶ who drink wine from bowls,
   and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
   but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
⁷ Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
   and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.

⁸ The Lord God has sworn by himself
(says the Lord, the God of hosts):
I abhor the pride of Jacob
   and hate his strongholds;
   and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.

9 If ten people remain in one house, they shall die. ¹⁰And if a relative, one who burns the dead,^* shall take up the body to bring it out of the house, and shall say to someone in the innermost parts of the house, ‘Is anyone else with you?’ the answer will come, ‘No.’ Then the relative^* shall say, ‘Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.’

¹¹ See, the Lord commands,
   and the great house shall be shattered to bits,
   and the little house to pieces.
¹² Do horses run on rocks?
   Does one plough the sea with oxen?^*
But you have turned justice into poison
   and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
¹³ you who rejoice in Lo-debar,^*
   who say, ‘Have we not by our own strength
   taken Karnaim^* for ourselves?’
¹⁴ Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation,
   O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts,
and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
   to the Wadi Arabah.