18. Woe to those who drag wickednesswith cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19. to those who say:“Let Him hurry up and do His work quicklyso that we can see it!Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take placeso that we can know it! ”
20. Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil, who substitute darkness for lightand light for darkness,who substitute bitter for sweetand sweet for bitter.
21. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinionand clever in their own sight.
22. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,who are fearless at mixing beer,
23. who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
24. Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes strawand as dry grass shrivels in the flame,so their roots will become like something rottenand their blossoms will blow away like dust,for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of Hosts,and they have despisedthe word of the Holy One of Israel.
25. Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against His people.He raised His hand against them and struck them;the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.In all this, His anger is not removed,and His hand is still raised to strike.
26. He raises a signal flag for the distant nations and whistles for them from the ends of the earth.Look — how quickly and swiftly they come!
27. None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps.No belt is looseand no sandal strap broken.
28. Their arrows are sharpened,and all their bows strung.Their horses’ hooves are like flint;their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29. Their roaring is like a lion’s; they roar like young lions; they growl and seize their preyand carry it off,and no one can rescue it.
30. On that day they will roar over it,like the roaring of the sea.When one looks at the land,there will be darkness and distress;light will be obscured by clouds.