1 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.

1 Confortamini, filii Benjamin, in medio Jerusalem:
et in Thecua clangite buccina,
et super Bethacarem levate vexillum,
quia malum visum est ab aquilone,
et contritio magna.

2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.

2 Speciosæ et delicatæ assimilavi filiam Sion.

3 The 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.

3 Ad eam venient pastores et greges eorum;
fixerunt in ea tentoria in circuitu:
pascet unusquisque eos qui sub manu sua sunt.

4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

4 Sanctificate super eam bellum:
consurgite, et ascendamus in meridie:
væ nobis, quia declinavit dies;
quia longiores factæ sunt umbræ vesperi!

5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

5 Surgite, et ascendamus in nocte,
et dissipemus domus ejus.

6 ¶ For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

6 Quia hæc dicit Dominus exercituum:
Cædite lignum ejus,
et fundite circa Jerusalem aggerem.
Hæc est civitas visitationis:
omnis calumnia in medio ejus.

7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.

7 Sicut frigidam fecit cisterna aquam suam,
sic frigidam fecit malitiam suam.
Iniquitas et vastitas audietur in ea,
coram me semper infirmitas et plaga.

8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

8 Erudire, Jerusalem,
ne forte recedat anima mea a te;
ne forte ponam te desertam,
terram inhabitabilem.

9 ¶ Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.

9 Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum:
Usque ad racemum colligent quasi in vinea reliquias Israël.
Converte manum tuam quasi vindemiator ad cartallum.

10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

10 Cui loquar, et quem contestabor ut audiat?
ecce incircumcisæ aures eorum,
et audire non possunt:
ecce verbum Domini factum est eis in opprobrium,
et non suscipient illud.

11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, 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.

11 Idcirco furore Domini plenus sum;
laboravi sustinens.
Effunde super parvulum foris,
et super consilium juvenum simul:
vir enim cum muliere capietur;
senex cum pleno dierum.

12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.

12 Et transibunt domus eorum ad alteros,
agri et uxores pariter,
quia extendam manum meam super habitantes terram, dicit Dominus:

13 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.

13 a minore quippe usque ad majorem
omnes avaritiæ student,
et a propheta usque ad sacerdotem
cuncti faciunt dolum.

14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

14 Et curabant contritionem filiæ populi mei cum ignominia,
dicentes: Pax, pax!
et non erat pax.

15 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 be cast down, saith the Lord.

15 Confusi sunt, quia abominationem fecerunt:
quin potius confusione non sunt confusi,
et erubescere nescierunt.
Quam ob rem cadent inter ruentes:
in tempore visitationis suæ corruent, dicit Dominus.

16 Thus saith the Lord, 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.

16 Hæc dicit Dominus:
State super vias, et videte,
et interrogate de semitis antiquis quæ sit via bona,
et ambulate in ea:
et invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris.
Et dixerunt: Non ambulabimus.

17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

17 Et constitui super vos speculatores:
Audite vocem tubæ.
Et dixerunt: Non audiemus.

18 ¶ Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.

18 Ideo audite, gentes,
et cognosce, congregatio,
quanta ego faciam eis.

19 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, nor to my law, but rejected it.

19 Audi, terra:
ecce ego adducam mala super populum istum,
fructum cogitationum ejus:
quia verba mea non audierunt,
et legem meam projecerunt.

20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.

20 Ut quid mihi thus de Saba affertis,
et calamum suave olentem de terra longinqua?
Holocautomata vestra non sunt accepta,
et victimæ vestræ non placuerunt mihi.

21 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

21 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus:
Ecce ego dabo in populum istum ruinas:
et ruent in eis patres et filii simul;
vicinus et proximus peribunt.

22 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.

22 Hæc dicit Dominus:
Ecce populus venit de terra aquilonis,
et gens magna consurget a finibus terræ.

23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

23 Sagittam et scutum arripiet:
crudelis est et non miserebitur.
Vox ejus quasi mare sonabit:
et super equos ascendent,
præparati quasi vir ad prælium
adversum te, filia Sion.

24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

24 Audivimus famam ejus;
dissolutæ sunt manus nostræ:
tribulatio apprehendit nos,
dolores ut parturientem.

25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.

25 Nolite exire ad agros,
et in via ne ambuletis,
quoniam gladius inimici,
pavor in circuitu.

26 ¶ 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 spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.

26 Filia populi mei, accingere cilicio,
et conspergere cinere:
luctum unigeniti fac tibi,
planctum amarum,
quia repente veniet vastator super nos.

27 I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.

27 Probatorem dedi te in populo meo robustum:
et scies, et probabis viam eorum.

28 They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.

28 Omnes isti principes declinantes,
ambulantes fraudulenter,
æs et ferrum:
universi corrupti sunt.

29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.

29 Defecit sufflatorium;
in igne consumptum est plumbum:
frustra conflavit conflator,
malitiæ enim eorum non sunt consumptæ.

30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.

30 Argentum reprobum vocate eos,
quia Dominus projecit illos.