Flee for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem; for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great destruction.
The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off.
Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
{Hebrew: Sanctify.}Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said, Hew ye down {Or, as otherwise read, her trees}trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
As a well {Or, keepeth fresh}casteth forth its waters, so she {Or, keepeth fresh}casteth forth her wickedness: violence and destruction is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds.
Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee; lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn again thy hand as a grape-gatherer {Or, upon the shoots}into the baskets.
To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
Therefore I am full of the wrath of Jehovah; I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah.
For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
They have healed also the {Or, breach}hurt of {Another reading is, the daughter of my people, as in chapter 8:11, 21}my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
{Or, They shall be put to shame because they have committed abomination; yea, they are not &c.}Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall; at the time that I visit them they shall {Or, stumble}be cast down, saith Jehovah.
Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein.
And I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will not hearken.
Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.
To what purpose cometh there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet {Or, calamus}cane from a far country? your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto me.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people; and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.
Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, a people cometh from the north country; and a great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion.
We have heard the report thereof; our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy, and terror, are on every side.
O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
I have made thee a {Or, tower}trier and a fortress among my people; that thou mayest know and try their way.
They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.
The bellows {Or, are burned}blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away.
Refuse silver shall men call them, because Jehovah hath rejected them.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 6,20 Jer 6,20
Sacrifice and {Or, meal-offering}offering thou hast no delight in; {Hebrew: Ears hast thou digged (or, pierced) for me.}Mine ears hast thou opened:Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of Jehovah, she came to prove him with hard questions.
Thou hast not brought me of thy sheep for burnt-offerings; neither hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices. I have not burdened thee with {Or, a meal-offering}offerings, nor wearied thee with frankincense.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh.
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices:
but this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken unto my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk ye in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.
Hear, O my people, and I will speak;O Israel, and I will testify {Or, against}unto thee:I am God, even thy God.
I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; {Or, Not for thy burnt-offerings, which are &c.}And thy burnt-offerings are continually before me.
I will take no bullock out of thy house,Nor he-goats out of thy folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,And the cattle {Or, upon the mountains where thousands are}upon a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the mountains;And the wild beasts of the field are {Or, in my mind Hebrew: with me.}mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell thee;For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
Will I eat the flesh of bulls,Or drink the blood of goats?
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
Thou hast bought me no {Or, calamus}sweet cane with money, neither hast thou {Or, satiated}filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast burdened me with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
But unto the wicked God saith,What hast thou to do to declare my statutes,And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
Seeing thou hatest {Or, correction}instruction,And castest my words behind thee?
The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the {Or, young camels}dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall {Hebrew: bring good tidings of the praises.}proclaim the praises of Jehovah.
Say unto God, How terrible are thy works!Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies {Or, yield feigned obedience Hebrew: lie.}submit themselves unto thee.
The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy traffickers; they traded for thy wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
He that killeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as he that breaketh a dog's neck; he that offereth {Or, a meal-offering}an oblation, as he that offereth swine's blood; he that {Hebrew: maketh a memorial of.}burneth frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations:
As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Go ye, serve every one his idols, {Or, but hereafter surely he shall hearken unto me and &c.}and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me; but my holy name shall ye no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.
I hate, I despise your feasts, and I {Hebrew: will not smell a savor.}will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Yea, though ye offer me {Or, burnt-offerings with your meal-offerings}your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the {Or, ever-flowing}peace-offerings of your fat beasts.
Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old?
will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?