61 "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 , And a great destruction . 2 "The comely and dainty one, the daughter of Zion , I will cut off . 3 " Shepherds and their flocks will come to her, They will pitch their tents around her, They will pasture each in his place . 4 " Prepare war against her; Arise , and let us attack at noon . Woe to us, for the day declines , For the shadows of the evening lengthen ! 5 "Arise , and let us attack by night And destroy her palaces !" 6 For thus says the Lord 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 . 7 " As a well keeps its waters fresh , So she keeps fresh her wickedness . Violence and destruction are heard in her; Sickness and wounds are ever before e Me. 8 " Be warned , O Jerusalem , Or I shall be alienated from you, And make you a desolation , A land not inhabited ."
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts , "They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel ; Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer Over the branches ." 10 To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear ? Behold , their ears are closed And they cannot e listen . Behold , the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it. 11 But I am full of the wrath of the Lord ; I am weary with holding it in. " Pour it out on the children in the street And on the gathering of young men together ; For both husband and wife shall be taken , The aged and the very e old e . 12 "Their 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 the Lord . 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 deals falsely . 14 "They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially , Saying , 'Peace , peace ,' But there is no peace . 15 "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done ? They were not even ashamed at all ; They did not even know how to blush . Therefore they shall fall among those who fall ; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down ," says the Lord . 16 Thus says the Lord , "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.' 17 "And I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet !' But they said , 'We will not listen .'
18 "Therefore hear , O nations , And know , O congregation , what is among them. 19 " Hear , O earth : behold , I am bringing disaster on this people , The fruit of their plans , Because e they have not listened to My words , And as for My law , they have rejected it also. 20 " For 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." 21 Therefore , thus says the Lord , "Behold , I am laying stumbling blocks before this people . And they will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together ; Neighbor and friend will perish ." 22 Thus says the Lord , "Behold , a people is coming from the north land , And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth . 23 "They seize bow and spear ; They are cruel and have no mercy ; Their voice roars like the sea , And they ride on horses , Arrayed as a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Zion !" 24 We have heard the report of it; Our hands are limp . Anguish has seized us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth . 25 Do not go out into the field And do not walk on the road , For the enemy has a sword , Terror is on every side . 26 O daughter of my people , put on 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 an assayer and a tester among My people , That you may know and assay their way ." 28 All of them are stubbornly rebellious , Going about as a talebearer . They are bronze and iron ; They, all of them, are corrupt . 29 The bellows blow fiercely , The lead is consumed by the fire ; In vain the refining goes on, But the wicked are not separated . 30 They call them rejected silver , Because the Lord has rejected them.
