1 "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.
2 "The comely and dainty one, the daughter of Zion, I will cut off.
3 "Shepherds and their flocks will come to her, They will pitch their tents around her, They will pasture each in his place.
4 "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!
5 "Arise, and let us attack by night And destroy her palaces!"
6 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.
7 "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.