1 “O children of Binyamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Yerushalayim! Blow the ram’s horn in Teqowa, and set up a signal-fire in Bĕyth Hakkerem, for evil has been seen from the north, and great destruction.
2 “I shall cut off the lovely and delicate one, the daughter of Tsiyon.
3 “The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her, they shall pitch their tents against her all around. They shall pasture, each one in his own place.”
4 “Set apart battle against her. Arise, and let us go up 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.”
6 For thus said יהוה of hosts, “Cut down her trees, and cast up a siege mound against Yerushalayim. She is the city to be punished, in whose midst there is only oppression.