1  Flee for safety, ^zO people of Benjamin,

from the midst of Jerusalem!

Blow the trumpet in ^aTekoa,

and raise a signal on ^bBeth-haccherem,

for disaster looms ^cout of the north,

and great destruction.

2  The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,

^dthe daughter of Zion.¹

3  ^eShepherds with their flocks shall come against her;

^fthey shall pitch their tents around her;

they shall pasture, each in his place.

4  ^g“Prepare war against her;

arise, and let us attack ^hat noon!

Woe to us, for the day declines,

for the shadows of evening lengthen!

5  Arise, and let us attack by night

and destroy her palaces!”

6  For thus says the Lord of hosts:

ⁱ“Cut down her trees;

^jcast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.

This is the city that must be ^kpunished;

there is nothing but oppression within her.

7  ^lAs a well keeps its water fresh,

so she keeps fresh her evil;

^mviolence and destruction are heard within her;

sickness and wounds are ever before me.

8  Be warned, O Jerusalem,

ⁿlest I turn from you in disgust,

lest I make you ^oa desolation,

an uninhabited land.”

9  Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^p“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine

the remnant of Israel;

like a grape gatherer pass your hand again

over its branches.”

10  ^qTo whom shall I speak and give warning,

that they may hear?

^rBehold, their ears are uncircumcised,

^sthey cannot listen;

behold, ^tthe word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;

they take no pleasure in it.

11  Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;

^uI am weary of holding it in.

^v“Pour it out upon the children in the street,

and upon the gatherings of young men, also;

^wboth husband and wife ^xshall be taken,

the elderly and the very aged.

12  ^yTheir houses shall be turned over to others,

their fields and wives together,

for I will stretch out my hand

against the inhabitants of the land,”

declares the Lord.

13  ^z“For from the least to the greatest of them,

everyone ^ais greedy for unjust gain;

and from ^bprophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

14  They have healed the wound of my people lightly,

saying, ^c‘Peace, peace,’

^dwhen there is no peace.

15  ^eWere they ashamed when they committed abomination?

No, they were not at all ashamed;

they did not know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

^fat the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”

says the Lord.

16  Thus says the Lord:

“Stand by the roads, and look,

and ask for ^gthe ancient paths,

where the good way is; and walk in it,

^hand find rest for your souls.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

17  ⁱI set watchmen over you, saying,

‘Pay attention to ^jthe sound of the trumpet!’

But they said, ^k‘We will not pay attention.’

18  Therefore hear, O nations,

and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.

19  Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,

^lthe fruit of their devices,

because they have not paid attention to my words;

and as for my law, they have rejected it.

20  ^mWhat use to me is ⁿfrankincense that comes from ^oSheba,

or sweet cane from a distant land?

^pYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,

nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.

21  Therefore thus says the Lord:

^q‘Behold, I will lay before this people

stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;

fathers and sons together,

neighbor and friend shall perish.’”

22  Thus says the Lord:

^r“Behold, a people is coming ^sfrom the north country,

a great nation is stirring from ^tthe farthest parts of the earth.

23  They lay hold on bow and javelin;

they are ^ucruel and have no mercy;

^vthe sound of them is like the roaring sea;

they ride on horses,

set in array as a man for battle,

against you, O daughter of Zion!”

24  We have heard the report of it;

^wour hands fall helpless;

anguish has taken hold of us,

^xpain as of a woman in labor.

25  Go not out into the field,

nor walk on the road,

for the enemy has a sword;

^yterror is on every side.

26  O daughter of my people, ^zput on sackcloth,

and ^aroll in ashes;

^bmake mourning as for an only son,

most bitter lamentation,

for suddenly the destroyer

will come upon us.

27  “I have made you ^ca tester of metals among my people,

that you may know and ^dtest their ways.

28  ^eThey are all stubbornly rebellious,

^fgoing about with slanders;

they are ^gbronze and iron;

all of them act corruptly.

29  The ^gbellows blow fiercely;

the lead is consumed by the fire;

^hin vain the refining goes on,

for the wicked are not removed.

30  ⁱRejected silver they are called,

for the Lord has rejected them.”

3  ^f“Prepare buckler and shield,

and advance for battle!

4  ^gHarness the horses;

mount, O horsemen!

Take your stations with your helmets,

^fpolish your spears,

put on your armor!

5  Why have I seen it?

They are dismayed

and have turned backward.

Their ^hwarriors are beaten down

and have fled in haste;

ⁱthey look not back—

^jterror on every side!

declares the Lord.

6  “The swift cannot flee away,

nor the warrior escape;

^din the north by the river Euphrates

^kthey have stumbled and fallen.

7  “Who is this, ^lrising like the Nile,

like rivers ^mwhose waters surge?

8  Egypt rises like the Nile,

like rivers ^mwhose waters surge.

He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,

I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’

9  ⁿAdvance, O horses,

and rage, O chariots!

Let the warriors go out:

men of Cush and ^oPut who handle the shield,

^pmen of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.

10  ^qThat day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,

^ra day of vengeance,

^sto avenge himself on his foes.

^tThe sword shall devour and be sated

and drink its fill of their blood.

For the Lord God of hosts holds ^ua sacrifice

^vin the north country ^wby the river Euphrates.

11  ^xGo up to Gilead, and take ^xbalm,

O virgin daughter of Egypt!

In vain you have used many medicines;

^ythere is no healing for you.

12  The nations have heard of your shame,

and the earth is full of your cry;

^zfor warrior has stumbled against warrior;

they have both fallen together.”

14  “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in ^bMigdol;

proclaim in ^bMemphis and ^bTahpanhes;

say, ^c‘Stand ready and be prepared,

for ^dthe sword shall devour around you.’

15  Why are your mighty ones face down?

They do not stand¹

because the Lord thrust them down.

16  He made many stumble, ^fand they fell,

and they said one to another,

‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people

and to the land of our birth,

^gbecause of the sword of the oppressor.’

17  Call the name of ^hPharaoh, king of Egypt,

‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

18  ⁱ“As I live, declares the King,

^jwhose name is the Lord of hosts,

like ^kTabor among the mountains

and like ^lCarmel by the sea, shall one come.

19  ^mPrepare yourselves baggage for exile,

O ⁿinhabitants of Egypt!

For ^oMemphis shall become a waste,

a ruin, ^pwithout inhabitant.

20  “A beautiful ^qheifer is Egypt,

but a biting fly ^rfrom the north has come upon her.

21  Even her hired soldiers in her midst

are like ^sfattened calves;

yes, they have turned and fled together;

they did not stand,

for the day of their calamity has come upon them,

^tthe time of their punishment.

22  “She makes ^ua sound like a serpent gliding away;

for her enemies march in force

and come against her with axes

^vlike those who fell trees.

23  ^vThey shall cut down her forest,

declares the Lord,

though it is impenetrable,

because ^wthey are more numerous than locusts;

they are without number.

24  The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;

she shall be delivered into the hand of ^ra people from the north.”

27  ^d“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,

nor be dismayed, O Israel,

for behold, I will save you from far away,

and your offspring from the land of their captivity.

Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,

and none shall make him afraid.

28  ^dFear not, O Jacob my servant,

declares the Lord,

for I am with you.

I will make a full end of all the nations

to which I have driven you,

but of you I will not make a full end.

^eI will discipline you in just measure,

and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

2  “Thus says the Lord:

^hBehold, waters are rising ⁱout of the north,

^hand shall become an overflowing torrent;

they shall overflow ^jthe land and all that fills it,

the city and those who dwell in it.

Men shall cry out,

and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.

3  At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,

^lat the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,

the fathers ^mlook not back to their children,

so feeble are their hands,

4  because of the day that is coming to destroy

all ^fthe Philistines,

to cut off from ⁿTyre and Sidon

every helper that remains.

For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,

^othe remnant of the coastland of ^pCaphtor.

5  ^qBaldness has come upon Gaza;

^rAshkelon has perished.

O remnant of their valley,

^show long will you gash yourselves?

6  ^tAh, sword of the Lord!

How long till you are quiet?

Put yourself into your scabbard;

rest and be still!

7  How can it² be quiet

^uwhen the Lord has given it a charge?

Against ^vAshkelon and against the seashore

^whe has appointed it.”

1  ^lBless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are ^mvery great!

ⁿYou are clothed with splendor and majesty,

2  covering yourself with light as with a garment,

^ostretching out the heavens ^plike a tent.

3  He ^qlays the beams of his ^rchambers on the waters;

he makes ^sthe clouds his chariot;

he rides on ^tthe wings of the wind;

4  he ^umakes his messengers winds,

his ^vministers ^wa flaming fire.

5  He ^xset the earth on its foundations,

so that it should never be moved.

6  You ^ycovered it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

7  At ^zyour rebuke they fled;

at ^athe sound of your thunder they ^btook to flight.

8  The mountains rose, the valleys sank down

to the place that you ^cappointed for them.

9  You set ^da boundary that they may not pass,

so that they ^emight not again cover the earth.

10  You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills;

11  they ^fgive drink to every beast of the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12  Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;

they sing among the branches.

13  ^gFrom your lofty abode you ^hwater the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14  You cause ⁱthe grass to grow for the livestock

and ^jplants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth ^kfood from the earth

15  and ^lwine to gladden the heart of man,

^moil to make his face shine

and bread to ⁿstrengthen man’s heart.

16  The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,

^othe cedars of Lebanon ^pthat he planted.

17  In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has her home in the fir trees.

18  The high mountains are for ^qthe wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for ^rthe rock badgers.

19  He made the moon to mark the ^sseasons;¹

the sun knows its time for setting.

20  ^tYou make darkness, and it is night,

when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

21  ^uThe young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

22  When the sun rises, they steal away

and lie down in their ^vdens.

23  ^wMan goes out to his work

and to his labor until the evening.

24  O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In ^xwisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

25  Here is the sea, great and wide,

^ywhich teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and great.

26  There go the ships,

and ^zLeviathan, which you formed to ^aplay in it.²

27  These ^ball look to you,

to ^cgive them their food in due season.

28  When you give it to them, they gather it up;

when you ^dopen your hand, they are filled with good things.

29  When you ^ehide your face, they are ^fdismayed;

when you ^gtake away their breath, they die

and ^hreturn to their dust.

30  When you ⁱsend forth your Spirit,³ they are created,

and you ^jrenew the face of the ground.

31  May the glory of the Lord ^kendure forever;

may the Lord ^lrejoice in his works,

32  who looks on the earth and it ^mtrembles,

who ⁿtouches the mountains and they smoke!

33  I will sing to the Lord ^oas long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

34  May my ^pmeditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

35  Let ^qsinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more!

^rBless the Lord, O my soul!

^sPraise the Lord!