The Holy Bible: Revised Common Version

1  "O children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee/
out of the midst of Jerusalem,/
blow the trumpet in Tekoa,/
and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem,/
for evil appears out of the north,/
and great destruction.

2  I have compared the daughter of Zion/
to a beautiful and delicate woman.

3  The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her./
They shall pitch their tents against her on every side./
They shall each feed in his place.

4  Prepare war against her./
Arise, and let us go up at noon./
Woe to us! For the day departs,/
and the shadows of the evening are lengthened.

5  Arise, and let us go by night/
and destroy her palaces."

6  For thus the LORD of hosts has said:/
"Hew down trees/
and cast a siege-mound against Jerusalem./
This is the city to be visited./
She is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

7  As a fountain casts out her waters,/
so she casts out her wickedness./
Violence and devastation is heard in her./
Continually before me are grief and wounds.

8  Be instructed, O Jerusalem,/
lest my soul depart from you,/
lest I make you desolate,/
a land not inhabited."

9  Thus says the LORD of hosts:/
"They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine./
Turn back your hand/
as a grape-gatherer into the baskets."

10 To whom shall I speak and give warning/
so that they may hear?/
Behold, their ear is uncircumcised/
and they cannot listen./
Behold, the word of the LORD is to 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 who is full of days.

12 And their houses shall be turned to others,/
with their fields and wives together,/
for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land,"/
says the LORD.

13 "For from their least even to their greatest,/
everyone is given to covetousness./
And from the prophet even to the priest,/
everyone deals falsely.

14 They have also healed 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?/
No. They were not at all ashamed,/
neither could they blush./
Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall./
At the time that I visit them they shall be cast down,"/
says the LORD.

16 Thus says the LORD:/
"Stand in the ways and see,/
and ask for the old paths,/
where the good way is, and walk in it/
and you shall find rest for your souls./
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'

17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying,/
'Listen to the sound of the trumpet.'/
But they said, 'We will not listen.'

18 Therefore, hear, you 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 listened to my words,/
nor to my law, but have rejected it.

20 For what purpose does incense come to me from Sheba/
and the sweet cane from a distant country?/
Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable,/
nor your sacrifices sweet to me."

21 Therefore, thus says the LORD:/
"Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people,/
and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them./
The neighbor and his friend shall perish."

22 Thus says the LORD:/
"Behold, a people comes 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 roars like the sea./
And they ride upon horses,/
set in array as men for war/
against you, O daughter of Zion."

24 We have heard its fame. Our hands become feeble./
Anguish has taken hold of us,/
and pain, as of a woman in travail.

25 Do not go 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 yourself with sackcloth/
and wallow yourself in ashes./
Make for yourself a mourning, as for an only son,/
a most bitter lamentation,/
for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.

27 "I have set you for a tower and a fortress among my people/
so that you may know and try their way."

28 They are all grievous revolters,/
walking slanderously./
They are brass and iron./
They are all corrupters.

29 The bellows is burned./
The lead is consumed by the fire./
The founder melts in vain,/
for the wicked are not plucked away.

30 Men shall call them reprobate silver/
because the LORD has rejected them.