5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;
he can turn the darkness into morning
and daylight 1 into night.
He summons the water of the seas
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name!
5:9 He flashes 2 destruction down upon the strong
so that destruction overwhelms 3 the fortified places.)
5:10 The Israelites 4 hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; 5
they despise anyone who speaks honestly.
5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops 6
and exact a grain tax from them,
you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,
nor will you drink the wine from the fine 7 vineyards you planted. 8
5:12 Certainly 9 I am aware of 10 your many rebellious acts 11
and your numerous sins.
You 12 torment the innocent, you take bribes,
and you deny justice to 13 the needy at the city gate. 14
5:13 For this reason whoever is smart 15 keeps quiet 16 in such a time,
for it is an evil 17 time.
5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!
Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you,
as you claim he is.
5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!
Promote 18 justice at the city gate! 19
Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on 20 those who are left from 21 Joseph. 22
5:16 Because of Israel’s sins 23 this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, 24 says:
“In all the squares there will be wailing,
in all the streets they will mourn the dead. 25
They will tell the field workers 26 to lament
and the professional mourners 27 to wail.
5:17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing,
for I will pass through 28 your midst,” says the Lord.
5:18 Woe 29 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.
5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, 30
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped 31 into a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring 32 darkness, not light –
gloomy blackness, not bright light?
5:21 “I absolutely despise 33 your festivals!
I get no pleasure 34 from your religious assemblies!
5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, 35 I will not be satisfied;
I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. 36
5:23 Take away from me your 37 noisy songs;
I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments. 38
5:24 Justice must flow like torrents of water,
righteous actions 39 like a stream that never dries up.
5:25 You did not bring me 40 sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family 41 of Israel.
5:26 You will pick up your images 42 of Sikkuth, 43 your king, 44
and Kiyyun, 45 your star god, which you made for yourselves,
5:27 and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord.
He is called the God who commands armies!