18
Woe to you who long
for the day of the Lord!
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?
That day will be darkness, not light.
19
It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
20
Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light -
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
21
"I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
22
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23
Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24
But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!
25
"Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26
You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,
the star of your god 1 -
which you made for yourselves.
27
Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,"
says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.