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- "Flee for safety, O sons of Benjamin, From the midst of Jerusalem! Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa And raise a signal over Beth-haccerem; For evil looks down from the north, And a great destruction.
- "The comely and dainty one, the daughter of Zion, I will cut off.
- "Shepherds and their flocks will come to her, They will pitch their tents around her, They will pasture each in his place.
- "Prepare war against her; Arise, and let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day declines, For the shadows of the evening lengthen!
- "Arise, and let us attack by night And destroy her palaces!"
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- For thus says the LORD of hosts, "Cut down her trees And cast up a siege against Jerusalem This is the city to be punished, In whose midst there is only oppression.
- "As a well keeps its waters fresh, So she keeps fresh her wickedness Violence and destruction are heard in her; Sickness and wounds are ever before Me.
- "Be warned, O Jerusalem, Or I shall be alienated from you, And make you a desolation, A land not inhabited."
- Thus says the LORD of hosts, "They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel; Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer Over the branches."
- To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.
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- But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary with holding it in "Pour it out on the children in the street And on the gathering of young men together; For both husband and wife shall be taken, The aged and the very old.
- "Their houses shall be turned over to others, Their fields and their wives together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land," declares the LORD.
- "For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely.
- "They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.
- "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the LORD.
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- Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
- "And I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen.'
- "Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.
- "Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not listened to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.
- "For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba And the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me."
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- Therefore, thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people And they will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together; Neighbor and friend will perish."
- Thus says the LORD, "Behold, a people is coming from the north land, And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.
- "They seize bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like the sea, And they ride on horses, Arrayed as a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Zion!"
- We have heard the report of it; Our hands are limp Anguish has seized us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth.
- Do not go out into the field And do not walk on the road, For the enemy has a sword, Terror is on every side.
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- O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth And roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the destroyer Will come upon us.
- "I have made you an assayer and a tester among My people, That you may know and assay their way."
- All of them are stubbornly rebellious, Going about as a talebearer They are bronze and iron; They, all of them, are corrupt.
- The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain the refining goes on, But the wicked are not separated.
- They call them rejected silver, Because the LORD has rejected them.
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