Yahweh Disciplines Israel

1“Flee for safety, O sons of Benjamin,

From the midst of Jerusalem!

Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa

And raise a signal over [†]Beth-haccerem,

For evil looks down from the north,

As well as great destruction.

2The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, I will ruin.

3Shepherds and their flocks will come to her;

They will pitch their tents [†]around her;

They will pasture each in his [†]place.

4Set yourselves apart for war against her;

Arise, and let us go up at noon.

Woe to us, for the day declines,

For the shadows of the evening stretch out!

5Arise, and let us go up by night

And [†]destroy her [†]palaces!”

6For thus says Yahweh of hosts,

“Cut down her trees

And cast up a siege against Jerusalem.

This is the city to be punished,

In whose midst there is only oppression.

7Like a well [†]keeps its waters fresh,

So she [†]keeps fresh her evil.

Violence and devastation are heard in her;

Sickness and wounds are continually before Me.

8Heed discipline, O Jerusalem,

Lest My soul become disgusted at you,

Lest I make you a desolation,

A land not inhabited.”

9Thus says Yahweh of hosts,

“They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel;

Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer

Over the branches.”

10To whom shall I speak and give warning

That they may hear?

Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,

And they cannot give heed.

Behold, the word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them;

They have no delight in it.

11But I am full of the wrath of Yahweh;

I am weary of holding it in.

“Pour it out on the infants in the street

And on the [†]gathering of choice men together;

For both husband and wife shall be captured,

The aged with the one full of days.

12Their houses shall be turned over to others,

Their fields and their wives together,

For I will stretch out My hand

Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares Yahweh.

13“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,

Everyone is greedy for gain,

And from the prophet even to the priest

Everyone practices lying.

14They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,

Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

But there is no peace.

15Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done?

They were not even ashamed at all;

They did not even know how to feel dishonor.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

At the time that I punish them,

They shall be cast down,” says Yahweh.

16Thus says Yahweh,

“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,

Where the good way is, and walk in it;

And you will find rest for your souls.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

17And I set watchmen over you, saying,

‘Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’

But they said, ‘We will not give heed.’

18Therefore hear, O nations,

And know, O congregation, what is among them.

19Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people,

The fruit of their [†]plans,

Because they have not given heed to My words,

And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

20For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba

And the [†]sweet cane from a distant land?

Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,

And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”

21Therefore, thus says Yahweh,

“Behold, I am [†]laying stumbling blocks before this people.

And they will stumble against them,

Fathers and sons together;

Neighbor and [†]friend will perish.”

Mourn the Coming Destroyer

22Thus says Yahweh,

“Behold, a people is coming from the land of the north,

And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

23They take hold of bow and spear;

They are cruel and have no compassion;

Their voice roars like the sea,

And they ride on horses,

Arranged as a man for the battle

Against you, O daughter of Zion!”

24We have heard the report of it;

Our hands are limp.

Distress has taken hold of us,

Pain as of a woman in childbirth.

25Do not go out into the field

And do not walk on the road,

For the enemy has a sword;

Terror is on every side.

26O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth

And roll in ashes;

[†]Mourn as for an only son,

A lamentation most bitter.

For suddenly the destroyer

Will come upon us.

27“I have made you a tester of metals and [†]an assayer among My people,

That you may know and test their way.”

28All of them are rebelliously stubborn,

Going about as a slanderer.

They are bronze and iron;

They, all of them, are corrupt.

29The bellows blow fiercely;

The lead [†]is consumed by the fire;

In vain the refining goes on,

But the evil ones are not [†]separated.

30They call them rejected silver

Because Yahweh has rejected them.