12 For I have known--many [are] your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And the needy in the gate ye turned aside.
13 Therefore is the wise at that time silent, For an evil time it [is].
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live, And it is so; Jehovah, God of Hosts, [is] with you, as ye said.
15 Hate evil, and love good, And set up judgment in the gate, It may be Jehovah, God of Hosts, doth pity the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, the Lord, In all broad places [is] lamentation, And in all out-places they say, `Alas, alas,' And called the husbandman to mourning, And to lamentation the skilful of wailing.
17 And in all vineyards [is] lamentation, For I pass into thy midst, said Jehovah.
18 Ho, ye who are desiring the day of Jehovah, Why [is] this to you--the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light,