Set up the banner toward Zion; flee for safety and do not wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great ruin.

Put on sackcloth for this, wail and howl; for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned back from us.

A wind more full than these shall come for Me. Now also I will utter judgments against them.

Behold, he shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a tempest. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!

For a voice declares from Dan, and proclaims affliction from mount Ephraim.

Ruin on ruin is cried; for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment.

For My people are foolish; they have not known Me; they are stupid sons, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

I looked on the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

For so Jehovah has said, The whole land shall be desolate, yet I will not make a full end.

The earth shall mourn for this, and the heavens above shall be black, because I have spoken, I have purposed, and will not repent, nor will I turn back from it.

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, the anguish as one bearing her first child, the voice of Zion's daughter, gasping and spreading her hands, saying, Woe to me now! For my soul faints because of murderers.

So I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they do not know the way of Jehovah, nor the judgment of their God.

I will go up for myself to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of Jehovah and the judgment of their God. But these have broken the yoke together and have torn off the bonds!

Why shall I pardon you for this? Your sons have forsaken Me, and have sworn by No-gods. When I adjured them, then they committed adultery, and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot's house.

Shall I not judge for these things? says Jehovah. And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Go up on her vine-rows and destroy; but do not make a full end; take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's.

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very deceitfully against Me, says Jehovah.

Do you not fear Me? says Jehovah. Will you not tremble at My presence, I who have placed the sand for the boundary of the sea by a never-ending decree, so that it cannot pass it? And though they toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail; though its waves roar, yet they cannot pass over it?

For among My people are found wicked ones; they lie in wait, as one who sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

O sons of Benjamin, take refuge out of the midst of Jerusalem. And blow the ram's horn in Tekoa, and set up a signal-fire over Beth-haccerem; for evil appears out of the north, and great ruin.

Prepare war against her; arise and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

For so has Jehovah of Hosts said, Cut down trees and cast a mound against Jerusalem! She is the city to be visited; there is nothing but oppression in her midst.

Therefore I am full of the fury of Jehovah; I am weary with holding in; I will pour it out on the children in the street, and on the circle of young men together. For even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with fullness of days.

And their houses shall be turned to others, together with their fields and wives; for I will stretch out My hand on the people of the land, says Jehovah.

For everyone from the least of them even to the greatest of them cuts off a profit; and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.

So says Jehovah, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it.

They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, set in order like a man for war against you, O daughter of Zion.

Do not go out into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear are on every side.

O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and wallow in ashes; make mourning for yourself, as for an only son, most bitter weeping; for the ravager shall suddenly come on us.

The bellows are burned, the lead is melted by the fire; the refiner melts in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away.

For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you completely do judgment between a man and his neighbor;

But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel.

Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up cry nor prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.

For I did not speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.

Cut off your hair and throw it away, and take up a weeping on the high places. For Jehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.

For the sons of Judah have done evil in My sight, says Jehovah. They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, in order to defile it.

So, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they shall bury in Tophet, until there is no place.

And the bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.

Then I will cause the voice of gladness to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.

Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall inherit them, for everyone from the least even to the greatest cuts off a profit. From the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.

For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Why do we sit still? Gather yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there. For Jehovah our God has put us to silence, and has given us poisonous water to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah.

We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, but behold, trouble!

The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan; the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his stallions. For they have come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those who live in it.

For, behold, I will send serpents and adders among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, says Jehovah.

For the breaking of the daughter of my people I am broken; I am in gloom; horror has seized me.

Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for traveling men, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies. But they are not mighty for the truth on the earth; for they go from evil to evil, and they do not know Me, says Jehovah.

Everyone beware of his neighbor, and do not trust any brother! For every brother will supplant his neighbor, and will walk with slanders.

Therefore so says Jehovah of Hosts, Behold, I will melt them and try them; for what else can I do for the daughter of My people?

Shall I not visit them for these things? says Jehovah; shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

I will take up a weeping and a wailing for the mountains, and a mourning for the pastures of the wilderness; because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; nor can men hear the voice of the cattle. Both the birds of the heavens and the beast have fled; they are gone.

So says Jehovah of Hosts, Think carefully, and call for the wailers, that they may come. And send for the wise women, that they may come;

and let them make haste and take up a weeping for us, so that our eyes may run down with tears, and waters flow from our eyelids.

For a voice of weeping is heard out of Zion. How are we plundered! We are greatly ashamed, because we have forsaken the land, because they have thrown down our tents.

For death has come up into our windows, and has entered into our houses, to cut off the children from outside and the young men from the streets.

but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Jehovah, doing kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these I delight, says Jehovah.

Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all who are in the outermost corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are not circumcised, and all the house of Israel, those not circumcised in heart.

So says Jehovah, Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be terrified at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are terrified at them.

For the customs of the people are vain; for one cuts a tree out of the forest with the axe, the work of the hands of the workman.

They are like a rounded post, and they cannot speak. They must surely be lifted, because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them; for they cannot do evil nor good, for it is not in them.

Who would not fear You, O King of nations? For fear belongs to You, because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.

Every man is stupid for lack of knowledge; every refiner is put to shame by the graven image; for his molten image is a lie, and no breath is in them.

The Portion of Jacob is not like them; for He is the Maker of all things; and Israel is the rod of His inheritance. Jehovah of Hosts is His name.

For so says Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the people of the land at this time, and will distress them, so that they may find Me.

Woe to me for my breaking! My wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a malady, and I must bear it.

For the pastors have become stupid, and have not sought Jehovah, therefore they shall not be blessed, and all their flocks shall be scattered.

Pour out Your fury on the nations who do not know You, and on the families who do not call on Your name; for they have eaten up Jacob and have devoured him, and have destroyed him, and have made his dwelling desolate.

For I earnestly testified to your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and testifying, saying, Obey My voice.

For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah. And according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.

And you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them. For I will not hear them in the time they cry to Me for their trouble.

And Jehovah of Hosts who planted you has spoken evil against you, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to themselves to provoke Me to anger by offering incense to Baal.

But, O Jehovah of Hosts who judges rightly, who tries the heart and the mind, let me see Your vengeance on them. For to You I have revealed my cause.

and there shall be no remnant of them. For I will bring evil on the men of Anathoth, the year of their judgment.

But You, O Jehovah, know me. You have seen me and tried my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and devote them for the day of slaughter.

For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you. Yea, they have called a multitude after you. Do not believe them, though they speak good things to you.

The ravagers have come on all high places through the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh shall have peace.

So says Jehovah to me, Go and buy for yourself a linen girdle, and put it on your loins, and do not put it in water.

Then I went to Euphrates and dug, and took the girdle from the place where I had hidden it. And, behold, the girdle was rotted; it was not good for anything.

This evil people, who refuse to hear My Words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be like this girdle, which is good for nothing.

For as the girdle holds fast to the loins of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, says Jehovah; so that they might be to Me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not hear.

Hear and give ear; do not be proud; for Jehovah has spoken.

Give glory to Jehovah your God, before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and, while you look for light, He turns it into the shadow of death, setting up deep gloom.

But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride. And my eye shall weep sore and run down with tears, because Jehovah's flock was captured.

Say to the king and to the queen mother, Humble yourselves, sit down; for your greatness shall come down, even the crown of your glory.

What will you say when he comes to punish you? For you have taught them to be rulers over you for a head. Do not pangs seize you, like a woman in travail?

Because the ground was cracked, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed; they covered their heads.

O Jehovah, though our iniquities testify against us, act for Your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You.

Then Jehovah said to me, Do not pray for this people for good.

And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, either them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour their evil on them.

And you shall speak this word to them: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and do not let them cease. For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great break, with a very grievous blow.

Have You utterly rejected Judah? Or has Your soul hated Zion? Why have You stricken us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for the time of healing, and behold, trouble!

We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness, the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.

Do not abhor us for Your name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; remember, do not break Your covenant with us.

Are there any among the vanities of the nations who make rain fall? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not You, O Jehovah our God? Then we will wait on You; for You do all these things.

And it will be, if they say to you, Where shall we go? Then you shall tell them, So says Jehovah: Those who are for death, go to death; and those for the sword, to the sword; and those for the famine, to the famine; and those for the captivity, to the captivity.

And I will make them a horror to all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

For who shall have pity on you, O Jerusalem? Or who shall weep over you? Or who shall turn aside to ask your welfare?