Impending Disaster for Jerusalem

¹Flee for safety, zO people of Benjamin,

from the midst of Jerusalem!

Blow the trumpet in aTekoa,

and raise a signal on bBeth-haccherem,

for disaster looms cout of the north,

and great destruction.

²The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,

dthe daughter of Zion.1

³eShepherds with their flocks shall come against her;

fthey shall pitch their tents around her;

they shall pasture, each in his place.

⁴g“Prepare war against her;

arise, and let us attack hat noon!

Woe to us, for the day declines,

for the shadows of evening lengthen!

⁵Arise, and let us attack by night

and destroy her palaces!”

⁶For thus says the Lord of hosts:

i“Cut down her trees;

jcast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.

This is the city that must be kpunished;

there is nothing but oppression within her.

⁷lAs a well keeps its water fresh,

so she keeps fresh her evil;

mviolence and destruction are heard within her;

sickness and wounds are ever before me.

⁸Be warned, O Jerusalem,

nlest I turn from you in disgust,

lest I make you oa desolation,

an uninhabited land.”

⁹Thus says the Lord of hosts:

p“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine

the remnant of Israel;

like a grape gatherer pass your hand again

over its branches.”

¹⁰qTo whom shall I speak and give warning,

that they may hear?

rBehold, their ears are uncircumcised,

sthey cannot listen;

behold, tthe word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;

they take no pleasure in it.

¹¹Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;

uI am weary of holding it in.

v“Pour it out upon the children in the street,

and upon the gatherings of young men, also;

wboth husband and wife xshall be taken,

the elderly and the very aged.

¹²yTheir houses shall be turned over to others,

their fields and wives together,

for I will stretch out my hand

against the inhabitants of the land,”

declares the Lord.

¹³z“For from the least to the greatest of them,

everyone ais greedy for unjust gain;

and from bprophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

¹⁴They have healed the wound of my people lightly,

saying, c‘Peace, peace,’

dwhen there is no peace.

¹⁵eWere they ashamed when they committed abomination?

No, they were not at all ashamed;

they did not know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

fat the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”

says the Lord.

¹⁶Thus says the Lord:

“Stand by the roads, and look,

and ask for gthe ancient paths,

where the good way is; and walk in it,

hand find rest for your souls.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

¹⁷iI set watchmen over you, saying,

‘Pay attention to jthe sound of the trumpet!’

But they said, k‘We will not pay attention.’

¹⁸Therefore hear, O nations,

and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.

¹⁹Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,

lthe fruit of their devices,

because they have not paid attention to my words;

and as for my law, they have rejected it.

²⁰mWhat use to me is nfrankincense that comes from oSheba,

or sweet cane from a distant land?

pYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,

nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.

²¹Therefore thus says the Lord:

q‘Behold, I will lay before this people

stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;

fathers and sons together,

neighbor and friend shall perish.’”

²²Thus says the Lord:

r“Behold, a people is coming sfrom the north country,

a great nation is stirring from tthe farthest parts of the earth.

²³They lay hold on bow and javelin;

they are ucruel and have no mercy;

vthe sound of them is like the roaring sea;

they ride on horses,

set in array as a man for battle,

against you, O daughter of Zion!”

²⁴We have heard the report of it;

wour hands fall helpless;

anguish has taken hold of us,

xpain as of a woman in labor.

²⁵Go not out into the field,

nor walk on the road,

for the enemy has a sword;

yterror is on every side.

²⁶O daughter of my people, zput on sackcloth,

and aroll in ashes;

bmake mourning as for an only son,

most bitter lamentation,

for suddenly the destroyer

will come upon us.

²⁷“I have made you ca tester of metals among my people,

that you may know and dtest their ways.

²⁸eThey are all stubbornly rebellious,

fgoing about with slanders;

they are gbronze and iron;

all of them act corruptly.

²⁹The gbellows blow fiercely;

the lead is consumed by the fire;

hin vain the refining goes on,

for the wicked are not removed.

³⁰iRejected silver they are called,

for the Lord has rejected them.”