6:1  "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, And a great destruction.

6:2  "The comely and dainty one, the daughter of Zion, I will cut off.

6:3  "Shepherds and their flocks will come to her, They will pitch {their} tents around her, They will pasture each in his place.

6:4  "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!

6:5  "Arise, and let us attack by night And destroy her palaces!"

6:6  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.

6:7  "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 Me.

6:8  "Be warned, O Jerusalem, Or I shall be alienated from you, And make you a desolation, A land not inhabited."

6:9  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."

6:10  To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.

6:11  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 old.

6:12  "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."

6:13  "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.

6:14  "They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, `Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.

6:15  "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."

6:16  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.}'

6:17  "And I set watchmen over you, {saying,} `Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, `We will not listen.'

6:18  "Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.

6:19  "Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not listened to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

6:20  "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."

6:21  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."

6:22  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.

6:23  "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!"

6:24  We have heard the report of it; Our hands are limp. Anguish has seized us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth.

6:25  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.

6:26  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.

6:27  "I have made you an assayer {and} a tester among My people, That you may know and assay their way."

6:28  All of them are stubbornly rebellious, Going about as a talebearer. {They are} bronze and iron; They, all of them, are corrupt.

6:29  The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain the refining goes on, But the wicked are not separated.

6:30  They call them rejected silver, Because the LORD has rejected them.