1. “Run for your lives, people of Benjamin! Run away from the city of Jerusalem! Blow the war trumpet in the city of Tekoa! Put up the warning flag in the city of Beth Hakkerem! Do these things because disaster is coming from the north. Terrible destruction is coming to you.
2. Jerusalem, you are like a beautiful meadow. But I will destroy you!
3. Enemy shepherds will surround you with all their flocks. They will set up their tents all around you, and each one will let his sheep eat the grass.
4. “Get ready to fight against Jerusalem. Get up! We will attack the city at noon. But it is already getting late. The evening shadows are growing long.
5. So get up! We will attack the city at night! Let’s destroy the strong walls that are around Jerusalem.”
6. This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Cut down the trees around Jerusalem, and build a siege mound against it. This city should be punished because inside there is no justice—only slavery.