1Seek refuge, sons of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem, and in Tekoa blow a trumpet, and over Beth-haccherem raise a signal, for distress has appeared from the north and great breaking.2The lovely and the delicate one I have compared to the daughter of Zion.3Shepherds and their flocks will come to her; they have pitched their tents around her and have grazed, each one his portion.4Consecrate war against her; arise and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day has turned, for the shadows of evening stretch out.5Arise and let us go up by night and let us destroy her citadels.6For thus says the LORD of Hosts: Cut down trees and pour up a mound against Jerusalem; she is the city that has been listed; all of her is oppression in her midst.7As one cools a cistern with its water, so she has cooled her distress; violence and destruction are heard in her continually before my face, sickness and wound.8Accept discipline, Jerusalem, lest my life be withdrawn from you, lest I make you a devastation, a land not inhabited.9Thus says the LORD of Hosts: Glean, let them glean the remnant of Israel as on a vine; return your hand like one who gathers upon the branches.10To whom shall I speak and give warning so that they will hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised and they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD has become to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.11But I am full of the rage of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out upon the infant in the street and upon the counsel of young men together, for even man with woman will be captured, elder with one full of days.12Their houses will 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 the LORD.13For from the least of them to the greatest, all of them pursue unjust gain, and from prophet to priest, all of them practice deception.14And they have healed the breaking of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace, and there is no peace.15They have acted shamefully, for they have committed abomination; yet they are not ashamed, nor do they know how to blush; therefore they will fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them they will stumble, says the LORD.16Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads and look; 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.17I will also raise up watchmen over you; listen to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will not listen.18Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.19Hear, O earth: Behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law.20What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices do not please me.21Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I am placing stumbling blocks before this people, and fathers and sons together will stumble over them; neighbor and friend will perish.22Thus says the LORD: Behold, a people is coming from the land of the north, and a great nation is stirring from the remote parts of the earth.23They grasp bow and javelin; they are cruel and show no mercy; their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, drawn up like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion.24We have heard the report of it; our hands have gone limp; distress has seized us, pain like that of a woman in labor.25Do not go out into the field, and do not walk on the road, for the sword of the enemy and terror are on every side.26O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes; make mourning for yourself as for an only child, a most bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.27An assayer I have given you among my people, a fortification, and you will know and test their way.28All of them are turners-aside, rebels, goers of slander, bronze and iron; all of them are ruiners.29The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; the refiner refines in vain, for the wicked are not removed.30They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.