1 “ O you children of Benjamin, Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, And set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem; For disaster appears out of the north, And great destruction.

2 I have likened the daughter of Zion To a lovely and delicate woman.

3 T he shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place.”

4 “ Prepare war against her; Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.

5 A rise, and let us go by night, And let us destroy her palaces.”

6 F or thus has the Lord of hosts said: “Cut down trees, And build a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished. She is full of oppression in her midst.

7 A s a fountain wells up with water, So she wells up with her wickedness. Violence and plundering are heard in her. Before Me continually are grief and wounds.

8 B e instructed, O Jerusalem, Lest My soul depart from you; Lest I make you desolate, A land not inhabited.”

9 T hus says the Lord of hosts: “They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”

10 T o whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.

11 T herefore I am full of the fury of the Lord. I am weary of holding it in. “I will pour it out on the children outside, And on the assembly of young men together; For even the husband shall be taken with the wife, The aged with him who is full of days.

12 A nd their houses shall be turned over to others, Fields and wives together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.

13 “ Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely.

14 T hey have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.

15 W ere they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

16 T hus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it. ’

17 A lso, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’

18 T herefore hear, you nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.

19 H ear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people— The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it.

20 F or what purpose to Me Comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”

21 T herefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”

22 T hus says the Lord: “Behold, a people comes from the north country, And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.

23 T hey will lay hold on bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like the sea; And they ride on horses, As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”

24 W e have heard the report of it; Our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, Pain as of a woman in labor.

25 D o not go out into the field, Nor walk by the way. Because of the sword of the enemy, Fear is on every side.

26 O daughter of my people, Dress in sackcloth And roll about in ashes! Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.

27 “ I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, That you may know and test their way.

28 T hey are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, They are all corrupters;

29 T he bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off.

30 P eople will call them rejected silver, Because the Lord has rejected them.”