6:1 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of
the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set
up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of
the north, and great destruction.
6:2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate
[woman].
6:3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they
shall pitch [their] tents against her on every side; they shall
feed every one in his place.
6:4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon.
Woe to us! for the day departeth, for the shadows of the
evening are lengthened.
6:5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her
palaces.
6:6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and
cast a mount against Jerusalem: this [is] the city to be
visited; she [is] wholly oppression in the midst of her.
6:7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her
wickedness: violence and devastation is heard in her; before me
continually [are] grief and wounds.
6:8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from
thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
6:9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean
the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thy hand as a
grape-gatherer into the baskets.
6:10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may
hear? Behold, their ear [is] uncircumcised, and they cannot
hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is to them a reproach;
they have no delight in it.
6:11 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 that
is] full of days.
6:12 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, saith the LORD.
6:13 For from the least of them even to the greatest of them
every one [is] given to covetousness; and from the prophet even
to the priest every one dealeth falsely.
6:14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people
slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when [there is] no peace.
6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? no,
they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:
therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time
[that] I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask
for the old paths, where [is] the good way, and walk in it, and
ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not
walk [in it].
6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, [saying], Hearken to the
sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
6:18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what
[is] among them.
6:19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people,
[even] the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not
hearkened to my words, nor to my law, but have rejected it.
6:20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and
the sweet cane from a distant country? your burnt-offerings
[are] not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet to me.
6:21 Therefore thus saith 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.
6:22 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north
country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of
the earth.
6:23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they [are] cruel, and
have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride
upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O
daughter of Zion.
6:24 We have heard the fame of it: our hands become feeble:
anguish hath taken hold of us, [and] pain, as of a woman in
travail.
6:25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the
sword of the enemy [and] fear [is] on every side.
6:26 O daughter of my people, gird [thee] with sackcloth, and
wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, [as for] an only
son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly
come upon us.
6:27 I have set thee [for] a tower [and] a fortress among my
people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
6:28 They [are] all grievous revolters, walking with slanders:
[they are] brass and iron; they [are] all corrupters.
6:29 The bellows is burned, the lead is consumed by the fire;
the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked
away.
6:30 Reprobate silver shall [men] call them, because the LORD
hath rejected them.
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