1O sons of Benjamin, take refuge out of the midst of Jerusalem. And blow the ram's horn in Tekoa, and set up a signal-fire over Beth-haccerem; for evil appears out of the north, and great ruin. 2I will destroy the daughter of Zion, the beautiful and tender one. 3The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch tents on her all around; they shall feed each one [in] his hand. 4Prepare 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 stretched out. 5Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces. 6For so has Jehovah of hosts said, Cut down trees and cast a mound against Jerusalem! She [is] the city to be visited; [there is] nothing but oppression in her midst. 7As a fountain keeps fresh her waters, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and spoil is heard in her; always before Me [are] grief and wounds. 8O Jerusalem, you must be instructed, lest My soul depart from you; lest I make you desolate, a land without people. 9So says Jehovah of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine; turn back your hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets. 10To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears [are] not circumcised, and they cannot listen. Behold, the Word of Jehovah is to them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in; I will pour it out on the children in the street, and on the circle of young men together. For even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with fullness of days. 12And their houses shall be turned to others, together [with their] fields and wives; for I will stretch out My hand on the people of the land, says the LORD. 13For everyone from the least of them even to the greatest of them cuts off a profit; and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely. 14They have also healed the hurt [of the daughter] of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when [there is] no peace. 15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall. At the time [that] I visit them they shall be cast down, says the LORD. 16So says the LORD, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way [is], and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk [in it]. 17Also I set watchmen over you, [saying], Listen to the sound of the ram's horn. But they said, We will not listen. 18Therefore hear, nations, and know, O congregation, what [is] among them. 19Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil on this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to My words, nor to My law, but have rejected it. 20Why does frankincense come to Me from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings [are] not pleasing, nor your sacrifices sweet to Me. 21Therefore so 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. 22So says the LORD, Behold, a people comes from the north country, and a great nation shall be stirred from the sides of the earth. 23They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they [are] cruel and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, set in order like a man for war against you, O daughter of Zion. 24We have heard the rumor of it; our hands become feeble; anguish has taken hold of us, and] pain, like a woman in labor. 25Do not go out into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy [and] fear [are] on every side. 26O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and wallow in ashes; make mourning for yourself, [as for] an only son, most bitter weeping; for the ravager shall suddenly come on us. 27I have set you up an assayer, an examiner among My people, that you may know and try their way. 28They [are] all grievous revolters, walking [in] slanders; they [are] bronze and iron; they [are] all corrupters. 29The bellows are burned, the lead is melted by the fire; the refiner melts in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away. 30Reprobate silver they call them, because the LORD has rejected them.