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.

² I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.

³ The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.

⁴ Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

⁵ Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

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.

⁷ As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.

⁸ Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

⁹ Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.

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 unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

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.

¹² And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.

¹³ For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

¹⁴ They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, Peace; when there is no Peace.

¹⁵ Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, 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.

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 therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

¹⁷ Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

¹⁸ Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.

¹⁹ Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.

²⁰ To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.

²¹ Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

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.

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.

²⁴ We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

²⁵ Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.

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.

²⁷ I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.

²⁸ They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.

²⁹ The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.

³⁰ Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

¹ Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

² Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,

³ And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

⁴ They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.

⁵ Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

⁶ Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,

⁷ he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.

⁸ Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

⁹ For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,

¹¹ because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High.

¹² Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was none to help.

¹³ Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds in sunder.

¹⁵ Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

¹⁶ For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut through bars of iron.

¹⁷ Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.

¹⁸ Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death.

¹⁹ Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses.

²⁰ He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.

²¹ Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

²² Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with singing.

²³ Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters;

²⁴ These see Yahweh's works, and his wonders in the deep.

²⁵ For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.

²⁶ They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts away because of trouble.

²⁷ They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.

²⁸ Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress.

²⁹ He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.

³⁰ Then they are glad because it is calm, so he brings them to their desired haven.

³¹ Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works for the children of men!

³² Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders.

³³ He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground,

³⁴ and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

³⁵ He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.

³⁶ There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in,

³⁷ sow fields, plant vineyards, and reap the fruits of increase.

³⁸ He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly. He doesn't allow their livestock to decrease.

³⁹ Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.

⁴⁰ He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.

⁴¹ Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock.

⁴² The upright will see it, and be glad. All the wicked will shut their mouths.

⁴³ Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses of Yahweh. A Song. A Psalm by David.