1. Seek refuge, Benjaminites,from the midst of Jerusalem!Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,raise a signal over Beth-haccherem;For disaster threatens from the north,and mighty destruction.
2. Lovely and delicatedaughter Zion, you are ruined!
3. Against her, shepherds come with their flocks;all around, they pitch their tents against her;each one grazes his portion.
4. “Prepare for war against her,Up! let us rush upon her at midday!”“Woe to us! the day is waning,evening shadows lengthen!”
5. “Up! let us rush upon her by night,destroy her palaces!”
6. For thus says the Lord of hosts:Hew down her trees,throw up a siege mound against Jerusalem.Woe to the city marked for punishment;there is nothing but oppression within her!
7. As a well keeps its waters fresh,so she keeps fresh her wickedness.Violence and destruction resound in her;ever before me are wounds and blows.
8. Be warned, Jerusalem,or I will be estranged from you,And I will turn you into a wilderness,a land where no one dwells.
9. Thus says the Lord of hosts:Glean, glean like a vinethe remnant of Israel;Pass your hand, like a vintager,repeatedly over the tendrils.