| 1: O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out
of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a
sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and
great destruction. |
| |
| 2: I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate
woman. |
| |
| 3:
The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they
shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every
one in his place. |
| |
| 4: Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon.
Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are
stretched out. |
| |
| 5: Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
|
| |
| 6: For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and
cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is
wholly oppression in the midst of her. |
| |
| 7: As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her
wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is
grief and wounds. |
| |
| 8: Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from
thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. |
| |
| 9: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the
remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer
into the baskets. |
| |
| 10: To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear?
behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the
word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
|
| |
| 11: Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with
holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the
assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall
be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. |
| |
| 12: And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their
fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the
inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD. |
| |
| 13: For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them
every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the
priest every one dealeth falsely. |
| |
| 14: They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people
slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. |
| |
| 15: Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay,
they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they
shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they
shall be cast down, saith the LORD. |
| |
| 16: Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask
for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall
find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. |
| |
| 17: Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of
the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. |
| |
| 18: Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is
among them. |
| |
| 19: Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people,
even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto
my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. |
| |
| 20: To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and
the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not
acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. |
| |
| 21: Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay
stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons
together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall
perish. |
| |
| 22: Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north
country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
|
| |
| 23: They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and
have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon
horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
|
| |
| 24: We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish
hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail. |
| |
| 25: Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the
sword of the enemy and fear is on every side. |
| |
| 26: O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow
thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter
lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. |
| |
| 27: I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people,
that thou mayest know and try their way. |
| |
| 28: They are all grievous volters, walking with slanders: they
are brass and iron; they are all corrupters. |
| |
| 29: The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the
founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. |
| |
| 30: Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath
rejected them. |
