Impending Destruction from the North
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 inBeth 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 Theshepherds with their flocks shall come to her.
They shall pitchtheirtents against her all around.
Each one shall pasture in his own place.”
4 “Preparewar against her;
# Arise, and let us go upat noon.
Woe to us, for the day goes away,
For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
5 Arise, and let us go by night,
And let us destroy her palaces.”
6 For thus has theLordof hosts said:
“Cut down trees,
And build a mound against Jerusalem.
Thisisthe city to be punished.
Sheisfull of oppression in her midst.
7 As a fountain wells up with water,
So she wells up with her wickedness.
# Violence and plundering are heard in her.
Before Me continuallyaregrief and wounds.
8 Be instructed, O Jerusalem,
# LestMy soul depart from you;
Lest I make you desolate,
A land not inhabited.”
9 Thus says theLordof hosts:
“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;
As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
# Indeed theirearisuncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
# Behold,the word of theLordis a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of theLord.
# I am weary of holdingitin.
# “I will pour it outon the children outside,
And on the assembly of young men together;
For even the husband shall be taken with the wife,
The aged withhimwhoisfull of days.
12 Andtheir 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 theLord.
13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
# Everyoneisgiven tocovetousness;
# And from the prophet even to thepriest,
Everyone deals falsely.
14 They have alsohealed the hurt of My people slightly,
# Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
Whenthereisno peace.
15 Were theyashamed 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 theLord.
16 Thus says theLord:
“Stand in the ways and see,
# And ask for theold paths, where the good wayis,
And walk in it;
# Then you will findrest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walkinit.’
17 Also, I setwatchmen over you,saying,
# ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, O congregation, whatisamong them.
19 Hear, O earth!
# Behold, I will certainly bringcalamity on this people—
# The fruit of their thoughts,
Because they have not heeded My words
Nor My law, but rejected it.
20 For what purpose to Me
# Comes frankincensefrom Sheba,
# Andsweet cane from a far country?
# Your burnt offeringsarenot acceptable,
Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”
21 Therefore thus says theLord:
“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 Thus says theLord:
# “Behold, a people comes from thenorth country,
And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.
23 They will lay hold on bow and spear;
Theyarecruel and have no mercy;
# Their voiceroars like the sea;
And they ride on horses,
As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”
24 We have heard the report of it;
Our hands grow feeble.
# Anguish has taken hold of us,
Pain as of a woman in labor.
25 Do not go out into the field,
Nor walk by the way.
Because of the sword of the enemy,
Fearison every side.
26 O daughter of my people,
# Dress in sackcloth
# And roll about in ashes!
# Make mourningasforan only son, most bitter lamentation;
For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.
27 “I have set youasan assayeranda fortress among My people,
That you may know and test their way.
28 Theyareall stubborn rebels,walking as slanderers.
# Theyarebronze and iron,
Theyareall corrupters;
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
The smelter refines in vain,
For the wicked are not drawn off.
30 Peoplewill call themrejected silver,
Because theLordhas rejected them.”