6People of Benjamin, run for safety! Escape from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa and build a signal fire in Beth Haccherem. Disaster and destruction are about to come from the north.H1121H1144H5756H7130H3389H8628H7782H8620H5375H4864H1021H7451H8259H6828H1419H76672The city of Zion is beautiful, but it will be destroyed;H1820H1323H6726H5116H60263kings will camp there with their armies. They will pitch their tents around the city, and each of them will camp wherever they want.H7462H5739H935H8628H168H5439H7462H376H30274They will say, "Prepare to attack Jerusalem! Get ready! We'll attack at noon!" But then they will say, "It's too late, the day is almost over, and the evening shadows are growing long.H6942H4421H6965H5927H6672H188H3117H6437H6752H6153H51865We'll attack by night; we'll destroy the city's fortresses."H6965H5927H3915H7843H7596The LORD Almighty has ordered these kings to cut down trees and build mounds in order to besiege Jerusalem. He has said, "I will punish this city because it is full of oppression.H3068H6635H559H3772H6097H8210H5550H3389H5892H6485H6233H71307As a well keeps its water fresh, so Jerusalem keeps its evil fresh. I hear violence and destruction in the city; sickness and wounds are all I see.H953H6979H4325H6979H7451H2555H7701H8085H6440H8548H2483H43478People of Jerusalem, let these troubles be a warning to you, or else I will abandon you; I will turn your city into a desert, a place where no one lives."H3256H3389H5315H3363H7760H8077H776H34279The LORD Almighty said to me, "Israel will be stripped clean like a vineyard from which every grape has been picked. So you must rescue everyone you can while there is still time."H559H3068H6635H5953H5953H7611H3478H1612H7725H3027H1219H555210I answered, "Who would listen to me if I spoke to them and warned them? They are stubborn and refuse to listen to your message; they laugh at what you tell me to say.H1696H5749H8085H241H6189H3201H7181H1697H3068H2781H265411Your anger against them burns in me too, LORD, and I can't hold it in any longer." Then the LORD said to me, "Pour out my anger on the children in the streets and on the gatherings of the young people. Husbands and wives will be taken away, and even the very old will not be spared.H4392H2534H3068H3811H3557H8210H5768H2351H5475H970H3162H376H802H3920H2205H4390H311712Their houses will be given to others, and so will their fields and their wives. I am going to punish the people of this land.H1004H5437H312H7704H802H3162H5186H3027H3427H776H5002H306813Everyone, great and small, tries to make money dishonestly; even prophets and priests cheat the people.H6996H1419H1214H1215H5030H3548H6213H826714They act as if my people's wounds were only scratches. 'All is well,' they say, when all is not well.H7495H7667H1323H5971H7043H559H7965H7965H796515Were they ashamed because they did these disgusting things? No, they were not at all ashamed; they don't even know how to blush. And so they will fall as others have fallen; when I punish them, that will be the end of them. I, the LORD, have spoken."H3001H6213H8441H1571H954H954H1571H3045H3637H5307H5307H6256H6485H3782H559H306816The LORD said to his people, "Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths and where the best road is. Walk in it, and you will live in peace." But they said, "No, we will not!"H559H3068H5975H1870H7200H7592H5769H5410H2896H1870H3212H4672H4771H5315H559H321217Then the LORD appointed sentries to listen for the trumpet's warning. But they said, "We will not listen."H6965H6822H7181H6963H7782H559H718118So the LORD said, "Listen, you nations, and learn what is going to happen to my people.H8085H1471H3045H571219Listen, earth! As punishment for all their schemes I am bringing ruin on these people, because they have rejected my teaching and have not obeyed my words.H8085H776H935H7451H5971H6529H4284H7181H1697H8451H398820What do I care about the incense they bring me from Sheba, or the spices from a distant land? I will not accept their offerings or be pleased with their sacrifices.H935H3828H7614H2896H7070H4801H776H5930H7522H2077H614921And so I will make these people stumble and fall. Parents and children will die, and so will friends and neighbors."H559H3068H5414H4383H5971H1H1121H3162H3782H7934H7453H622The LORD says, "People are coming from a country in the north; a mighty nation far away is preparing for war.H559H3068H5971H935H6828H776H1419H1471H5782H3411H77623They have taken up their bows and swords; they are cruel and merciless. They sound like the roaring sea, as they ride their horses. They are ready for battle against Jerusalem."H2388H7198H3591H394H7355H6963H1993H3220H7392H5483H6186H376H4421H1323H672624"We have heard the news," say the people of Jerusalem, "and our hands hang limp; we are seized by anguish and pain like a woman in labor.H8085H8089H3027H7503H6869H2388H2427H320525We don't dare go to the countryside or walk on the roads, because our enemies are armed and terror is all around us."H3318H7704H3212H1870H2719H341H4032H543926The LORD says to his people, "Put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter tears as you would for an only child, because the one who comes to destroy you will suddenly attack.H1323H5971H2296H8242H6428H665H6213H60H3173H8563H4553H7703H6597H93527Jeremiah, test my people, as you would test metal, and find out what they are like.H5414H969H4013H5971H3045H974H187028They are all stubborn rebels, hard as bronze and iron. They are all corrupt, going around and spreading gossip.H5493H5637H1980H7400H5178H1270H784329The furnace burns fiercely, but the waste metals do not melt and run off. It is useless to go on refining my people, because those who are evil are not taken away.H4647H2787H5777H8552H800H784H6884H6884H7723H7451H542330They will be called worthless dross, because I, the LORD, have rejected them."H3988H3701H7121H3068H3988
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