1 Take cover, sons of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem; blow the trumpet in Tekoa and lift up the signal over Beth-Haccerem; for nishkefah {nishkefah: looming disaster} from the north and shever {shever: catastrophic collapse}.
2 The beautiful and the delicate {me'unagah: finely pampered} I have likened to the daughter of Zion {bat tziyon: city personified}.
3 Shepherds and their flocks will come upon her; they will pitch tents {ohelim: temporary dwellings} around her; each one will pasture in his place {yad: designated region}.
4 Consecrate war against her; arise, and let us ascend at noon! Woe to us, for the day is bending away {panah: bending away}, and the shadows of evening are growing long {yinnatu: growing long}.
5 Arise, and let us go up by night {laylah: strategic timing}, and let us destroy her palaces {armenot: fortified dwellings}.
6 For thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Divine Commander}: “Cut down trees and build a siege ramp {solelah: earthen assault ramp} against Jerusalem. She is the city that must be punished; all of her is oppression within her.”
7 As a cistern keeps its waters cool in a city, so she keeps her wickedness; violence and destruction are heard within her; before Me {YHWH, Grieved Witness} continually are sickness and wound {makah: grievous blow}.
8 Be warned, Jerusalem, lest My soul {nafshi: life-essence} depart from you; lest I make you a desolation {shemamah: total ruin}, a land not inhabited.
9 Thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Commander of Armies}: They will glean thoroughly, like a vine, the remnant of Israel; turn back your hand like a grape gatherer over the branches {salsilot: vine shoots}.
10 Upon whom shall I speak and warn, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised {arel: spiritually closed}, and they are not able to listen; behold, the word of the LORD {YHWH, Truth Proclaimer} has become to them a reproach, and they do not delight in it.
11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}; I am weary of restraining it. Pour it out upon the infants in the street and upon the assembly of young men gathered together; for even the man with the woman will be taken, the elder with the one full of days {mele yamim: long-lived}.
12 And their houses will be turned over to others, together with their fields and women, for I will stretch out My hand {yad: symbol of power and action} against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}.
13 For from their least to their greatest, all of them are greedy {bosea: violent profit} for gain; and from prophet to priest, all of them act falsely {sheqer: deceit, lying}.
14 And they have healed the wound {shever: fracture} of my people lightly, saying, "Peace {shalom: completeness}, peace," when there is no peace.
15 They were put to shame because they committed abomination {toevah: gross violation of covenant}; yet they were not at all ashamed, nor did they know humiliation {haklim: deep disgrace}. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them, they shall stumble,” says the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}.
16 Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths {netivot olam: time-honored ways}, where the good way is, and walk in it; you will find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
17 And I set watchmen{tzofim: alert guardians} over you, saying, “Listen to the sound of the trumpet{shofar: ram’s horn warning}!” But they said, “We will not listen.”
18 Therefore hear, O nations{goyim: foreign peoples}, and know, O congregation{edah: assembly or gathered group}, what is among them.
19 Hear, O earth; behold, I{YHWH, Sovereign Judge} am bringing disaster{ra'ah: divine judgment} upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to My words and they have rejected My law.
20 Why is this frankincense {levonah: costly resin} from Sheba coming to Me {YHWH, Displeased Judge}, and the good cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not for acceptance, and your sacrifices have not been pleasing to Me.
21 Therefore thus says the LORD {YHWH, Judge of Israel}: “Behold, I am placing stumbling blocks {miksholim: Moral Pitfalls} before this people, and fathers and sons together will stumble over them; neighbor and his companion will perish.”
22 Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Speaker}: Behold, a people is coming from the land of the north, and a great nation will be raised up from the farthest parts of the earth {yarketei-eretz: remotest regions}.
23 Bow and spear they wield{yachaziku: arm themselves}; cruel is he and they do not show mercy; their voice roars like the sea, and on horses they ride, arrayed like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion{bat-tziyon: Jerusalem’s people}.
24 We have heard his report; our hands have grown weak; distress {tsarah: overwhelming calamity} has seized us, pain {chil: birthing pangs} like a woman in labor.
25 Do not go out into the field {sadeh: cultivated land}, nor walk along the road; for the sword belongs to the enemy, and terror {magor: overwhelming dread} is all around.
26 O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth and roll yourself in ashes; make mourning for yourself as for an only son {yāḥîḏ: dearly beloved child}, a most bitter lament; for suddenly the destroyer {ha-šōḏēḏ: violent invader} will come upon us.
27 I {YHWH, Divine Appointer} have set you as an examiner of metals among My people, as a fortress {mivtsar: secure refuge}, so that you may know and test their way.
28 All of them are hardened rebels who walk in slander; they are bronze {nekhoshet: unyielding metal} and iron, and all of them are destroyers {mashkhitim: bringers of ruin}.
29 The bellows blow fiercely; the lead {oferet: Soft Malleable Metal} is consumed by the fire; in vain the refiner {tsaraf: One Who Purifies} refines, but the wicked are not removed.
30 They are called rejected{nimas: counted as worthless} silver, because the LORD{YHWH, Righteous Judge} has rejected them.