12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
14 Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says: “There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.
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.