Declare this in the house of Jacob, and proclaim it in Judah, saying,

Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of Jehovah has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

O children of Benjamin, seek refuge out of the midst of Jerusalem. Blow the shofar in Tekoa, and set up a signal-fire in Beth-haccerem; for evil appears out of the north, and great destruction.

Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their borders and make him their watchman,

then whoever listens to hear the sound of the shofar and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the shofar, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any soul from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

Put the shofar to your mouth. He comes like an eagle against the house of Jehovah, because they have transgressed My covenant and have rebelled against My Law.

If a shofar is blown in a city, will the people not also tremble? If there is calamity in a city, will not even Jehovah have done it?

A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah has spoken! Who can but prophesy?

Why do we sit still? Gather yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there. For Jehovah our God has put us to silence, and has given us bitter water to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah.

But it came to pass when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of Syria. So we are living at Jerusalem.

And it happened, while Joshua and the sons of Israel made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they had finished, that those who had escaped entered fortified cities.