8On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice

I will punish the princes

and the king’s sons

and all those clad

in foreign clothes.

9On that day I will punish

all who avoid stepping on the threshold,^c

who fill the temple of their gods

with violence and deceit.

10“On that day,” declares the Lord,

“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,

wailing from the New Quarter,

and a loud crash from the hills.

11Wail, you who live in the market district^d;

all your merchants will be wiped out,

all who trade with^e silver will be ruined.

12At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps

and punish those who are complacent,

who are like wine left on its dregs,

who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,

either good or bad.’

13Their wealth will be plundered,

their houses demolished.

They will build houses

but not live in them;

they will plant vineyards

but not drink the wine.

The Great Day of the Lord

14“The great day of the Lord is near—

near and coming quickly.

Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter,

the shouting of the warrior there.

15That day will be a day of wrath,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of trouble and ruin,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and blackness,

16a day of trumpet and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the corner towers.

17I will bring distress on the people

and they will walk like blind men,

because they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dust

and their entrails like filth.

18Neither their silver nor their gold

will be able to save them

on the day of the Lord’s wrath.

In the fire of his jealousy

the whole world will be consumed,

for he will make a sudden end

of all who live in the earth.”