Set up the standard towards Zion.
Retire, stay not.
For I will bring evil from the north and a great destruction.
The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on
his way.
He has gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate, and thy cities shall be
laid waste without an inhabitant.
For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl.
For the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us.
And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king
shall perish, and the heart of the princes, and the priests shall be
astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
Then said I, O Lord God, surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and
Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace, whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the
high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan nor to
cleanse.
Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me.
Now also will I give sentence against them.
Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind,
his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe unto us, for we are spoiled.
O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayst be saved.
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from Mount
Ephraim.
Make ye mention to the nations.
Behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country,
and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
As keepers of a field, are they against her round about?
Because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.
Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee.
This is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine
heart.
My bowels, my bowels, I am pained at my very heart.
My heart maketh a noise in me.
I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the
trumpet, the alarm of war.
Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is spoilt.
Suddenly are my tents spoilt, and my curtains in a moment.
How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
For my people is foolish, they have not known me.
They are sottish children, and they have none understanding.
They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void, and the heavens,
and they had no light.
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved
lightly.
I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were
fled.
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof
were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.
For thus hath the Lord said, the whole land shall be desolate, yet will I not
make a full end.
For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black,
because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I
turn back from it.
The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen.
They shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks.
Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
And when thou art spoilt, what wilt thou do?
Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of
gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself
fair.
Thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
For I have heard a voice, as of a woman in travail, and the anguish, as of her that
bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion,
that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now, for my soul
is wearied because of murderers.