3 For the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, and don’t sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
5 Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, ‘Blow the shofar in the land!’ Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves! Let’s go into the fortified cities!’
6 Set up a standard toward Zion. Flee for safety! Don’t wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.”
7 A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations. He is on his way. He has gone out from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.
8 For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of the Lord hasn’t turned back from us.
9 “It will happen at that day,” says the Lord, “that the heart of the king will perish, along with the heart of the princes. The priests will be astonished, and the prophets will wonder.”