1Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms out of the north, and great destruction. (قض 1:21; 2صم 14:2; نح 3:14; إر 1:14)2The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy, the daughter of Zion.[1] (2مل 19:21)3Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her; they shall pitch their tents around her; they shall pasture, each in his place. (إر 4:17; إر 23:1)4“Prepare war against her; arise, and let us attack at noon! Woe to us, for the day declines, for the shadows of evening lengthen! (إر 15:8; إر 22:7; إر 51:27; يؤ 3:9)5Arise, and let us attack by night and destroy her palaces!”6For thus says the Lord of hosts: “Cut down her trees; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her. (تث 20:20; 2مل 19:32; إش 37:33; حز 26:8; لو 19:43; لو 19:44)7As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me. (مز 55:9; إش 57:20; حز 7:11; حز 7:23)8Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.” (إر 4:7; حز 23:18; هو 9:12)9Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They shall glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape gatherer pass your hand again over its branches.” (تث 24:21)10To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it. (خر 6:12; إش 28:9; إش 53:1; إر 7:26; إر 20:8; أع 7:51)11Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord; I am weary of holding it in. “Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also; both husband and wife shall be taken, the elderly and the very aged. (إر 8:9; إر 9:21; إر 20:9; مرا 2:21)12Their 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. (إر 8:10)13“For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. (إش 56:11; إر 5:31; إر 14:18; إر 23:11; إر 31:34; إر 44:12; يون 3:5; مي 3:11)14They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. (إش 48:22; إش 57:21; إر 4:10; إر 14:13; إر 23:17; حز 7:25; حز 13:10; مي 3:5; يو 14:27)15Were 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; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the Lord. (إر 3:3; إر 6:6; إر 8:12)16Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ (مز 116:7; إش 8:20; إر 18:15; ملا 4:4; مت 11:29; لو 16:29)17I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’ (إش 21:11; إش 56:10; إش 58:1; إر 4:19; إر 44:16)18Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.19Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. (أم 1:31)20What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me. (1مل 10:1; مز 40:6; إش 1:11; إش 43:23; إش 60:6; إر 7:21; إر 14:12; عا 5:21)21Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will lay before this people stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble; fathers and sons together, neighbor and friend shall perish.’” (حز 3:20)22Thus says the Lord: “Behold, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. (إر 1:13; إر 25:32; إر 31:8; إر 50:41)23They lay hold on bow and javelin; they are cruel and have no mercy; the 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!” (إش 13:9; إش 13:18; إش 17:12)24We have heard the report of it; our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor. (2صم 4:1; إش 13:8; إر 38:4; إر 49:24; حز 7:17; حز 21:7)25Go not out into the field, nor walk on the road, for the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side. (أي 18:11; مز 31:13; مرا 2:22)26O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us. (أس 4:1; إر 4:8; إر 25:34; مرا 3:16; حز 27:30; عا 8:10; مي 1:10; زك 12:10)27“I have made you a tester of metals among my people, that you may know and test their ways. (إر 1:18; إر 9:7)28They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly. (لا 19:16; إر 5:23; إر 9:4; حز 22:18; حز 22:20)29The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed. (إش 1:25; إر 6:28)30Rejected silver they are called, for the Lord has rejected them.” (إش 1:22; حز 22:19)