Be courageous, sons of Binyamin, from the midst of Yerushalayim, and in Tiqoa sound a shofar, and over Beit-haKerem raise a signal; for evil looks out from the north, and great destruction.

The delicate and the pampered, I have likened the daughter of Tsiyon.

Shepherds and their flocks will come to her; they will pitch tents against her all around; they will graze, each one with his hand.

Consecrate against her war; rise up, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day has turned, for the shadows of evening lengthen.

Rise up, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

For thus says יהוה of hosts: Cut down trees, and cast a siege rampart against Yerushalayim. She is the city that must be punished; all oppression is in her midst.

As a cistern empties its waters, so she has emptied her evil. Violence and destruction are heard in her; continually before me are sickness and wounds.

Be warned, Yerushalayim, lest my soul depart from you, lest I make you a desolate land, not inhabited.

Thus says יהוה of hosts: They will glean like a vine the remnant of Yisra'el; return your hand like a grape-gatherer to the baskets.

To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot listen. Behold, the word of יהוה has become a reproach to them; they do not desire it.

And I am full of the wrath of יהוה; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out on the child in the street, and on the gathering of young men together; for both husband and wife will be captured, the old man with him who is full of days.

And their houses will be turned over to others, fields and women together; for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land, declares יהוה.

For from the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain, and from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.

They have healed the brokenness of my people superficially, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.

They should be ashamed, for they have committed an abomination; indeed, they should not be ashamed at all; they do not even know how to blush. Therefore they will fall among the fallen; at the time of my punishment they will stumble, says יהוה.

Thus says יהוה: Stand on the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, 'Which is the good way?' and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk.'

And I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the shofar!' But they said, 'We will not listen.'

Therefore, hear, you nations, and know, O assembly, what is among them.

Hear, O earth! Behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words, and they have rejected my law.

Why should frankincense come to me from Sheva, and sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices do not please me.

Therefore, thus says יהוה: Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and fathers and sons together will stumble, neighbor and friend will perish.

Thus says יהוה: Behold, a people is coming from the north country, and a great nation will be stirred up from the ends of the earth.

They grasp the bow and the spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, arrayed like a man for war against you, O daughter of Tsiyon.

We have heard the report of it; our hands are weakened; distress has seized us; pain like a woman in labor.

Do not go out into the field, nor walk on the road, for the sword of the enemy is terror all around.

O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth and roll in ashes; make for yourself mourning like an only child, a bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

I have made you a tester among my people, a fortress, so that you may know and test their way.

They are all rebellious, going about as slanderers, made of bronze and iron; they are all corrupt.

The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by fire; in vain the smelter smelts, for the wicked are not removed.

They call them rejected silver, for יהוה has rejected them.