O generation, mark ye the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Wherefore say my people, We have dominion; we will come no more unto thee?

“Raise a banner toward Zion [to mark the way for those seeking safety inside Jerusalem’s walls]!
Seek refuge, do not stand [immobile],
For I am bringing evil from the north (the army of Babylon),
And great destruction.

I will say, 'My dear children of Israel, keep in mind the road you took when you were carried off. Mark off in your minds the landmarks. Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back. Return, my dear children of Israel. Return to these cities of yours.

For see, I am moving and sending up against Babylon a band of great nations from the north country: and they will put their armies in position against her; and from there she will be taken: their arrows will be like those of an expert man of war; not one will come back without getting its mark.

How long [O Lord] must I see the banner [marking the way for flight]
And hear the sound of the trumpet [urging the people to run for safety]?

“But who [among them] has stood in the council of the Lord,
That he would perceive and hear His word?
Who has marked His word [noticing and observing and paying attention to it] and has [actually] heard it?

For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

I marked well, and the plowed field was become waste: yea, all their cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and indignation of his wrath.

And indeed, [when] we [were] making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and {pouring out} to her libations, [was it not] {with the consent of} our husbands [that] we made for her sacrificial cakes {marked with her image}, and we poured out to her libations?"