18. Woe to those who wish for the day of the Lord!Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?It will bring darkness, not light.
19. Disaster will be inescapable, as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear, then escaped into a house, leaned his hand against the wall, and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
20. Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring darkness, not light – gloomy blackness, not bright light?
21. “I absolutely despise your festivals!I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies!
22. Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, I will not be satisfied;I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves.
23. Take away from me your noisy songs;I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments.
24. Justice must flow like torrents of water,righteous actions like a stream that never dries up.
25. You did not bring me sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family of Israel.
26. You will pick up your images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kiyyun, your star god, which you made for yourselves,
27. and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord.He is called the God who commands armies!