⁴ “Prepare^(D) war against her;
Arise, and let us go up ^(E)at noon.
Woe to us, for the day goes away,
For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
⁵ Arise, and let us go by night,
And let us destroy her palaces.”

“Cut down trees,
And build a mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished.
She is full of oppression in her midst.
^7 (F)As a fountain ^[a]wells up with water,
So she wells up with her wickedness.
^(G)Violence and plundering are heard in her.
Before Me continually are ^[b]grief and wounds.
⁸ Be instructed, O Jerusalem,
Lest ^(H)My soul depart from you;
Lest I make you desolate,
A land not inhabited.”

“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;
As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”

¹⁰ To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
Indeed their ^(I)ear is uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, ^(J)the word of the Lord is a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
¹¹ Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord.
^(K)I am weary of holding it in.
“I will pour it out ^(L)on the children outside,
And on the assembly of young men together;
For even the husband shall be taken with the wife,
The aged with him who is full of days.
¹² And ^(M)their houses shall be turned over to others,
Fields and wives together;
For I will stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
¹³ “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to ^(N)covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the ^(O)priest,
Everyone deals falsely.
¹⁴ They have also ^(P)healed the ^[c]hurt of My people ^[d]slightly,
^(Q)Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
¹⁵ Were they ^(R)ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the ^(S)old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find ^(T)rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
¹⁷ Also, I set ^(U)watchmen over you, saying,
^(V)‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
¹⁸ Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
^19 (W)Hear, O earth!
Behold, I will certainly bring ^(X)calamity on this people—
^(Y)The fruit of their thoughts,
Because they have not heeded My words
Nor My law, but rejected it.
^20 (Z)For what purpose to Me
Comes frankincense ^(AA)from Sheba,
And ^(AB)sweet cane from a far country?
^(AC)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”

“Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people,
And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them.
The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”

“Behold, a people comes from the ^(AD)north country,
And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.
²³ They will lay hold on bow and spear;
They are cruel and have no mercy;
Their voice ^(AE)roars like the sea;
And they ride on horses,
As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”

²⁴ We have heard the report of it;
Our hands grow feeble.
^(AF)Anguish has taken hold of us,
Pain as of a woman in ^[e]labor.
²⁵ Do not go out into the field,
Nor walk by the way.
Because of the sword of the enemy,
Fear is on every side.
²⁶ O daughter of my people,
^(AG)Dress in sackcloth
^(AH)And roll about in ashes!
^(AI)Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation;
For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.

²⁷ “I have set you as an assayer and ^(AJ)a fortress among My people,
That you may know and test their way.
^28 (AK)They are all stubborn rebels, ^(AL)walking as slanderers.
They are ^(AM)bronze and iron,
They are all corrupters;
²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
The smelter refines in vain,
For the wicked are not drawn off.
³⁰ People will call them ^(AN)rejected silver,
Because the Lord has rejected them.”