Jerusalem Under Siege

“Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
    Flee from Jerusalem!
Sound the trumpet(A) in Tekoa!(B)
    Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem!(C)
For disaster looms out of the north,(D)
    even terrible destruction.

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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 Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.

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14 The Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah son of Rekab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem.(A) He rebuilt it and put its doors with their bolts and bars in place.

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14 But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Bethhaccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

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22 This is what the Lord says:

“Look, an army is coming
    from the land of the north;(A)
a great nation is being stirred up
    from the ends of the earth.(B)

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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.

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Disaster From the North

“Announce in Judah and proclaim(A) in Jerusalem and say:
    ‘Sound the trumpet(B) throughout the land!’
Cry aloud and say:
    ‘Gather together!
    Let us flee to the fortified cities!’(C)
Raise the signal(D) to go to Zion!
    Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing disaster(E) from the north,(F)
    even terrible destruction.”

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Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.

Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

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Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

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He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

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So Joab sent someone to Tekoa(A) and had a wise woman(B) brought from there. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions.(C) Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead.

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And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:

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21 The Benjamites, however, did not drive out(A) the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem;(B) to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

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21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

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21 The tribe of Benjamin, according to its clans, had the following towns:

Jericho, Beth Hoglah,(A) Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah,(B) Zemaraim,(C) Bethel,(D) 23 Avvim,(E) Parah, Ophrah,(F) 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba(G)—twelve towns and their villages.

25 Gibeon,(H) Ramah,(I) Beeroth,(J) 26 Mizpah,(K) Kephirah,(L) Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah,(M) Haeleph, the Jebusite city(N) (that is, Jerusalem(O)), Gibeah(P) and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages.(Q)

This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans.(R)

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21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Bethhoglah, and the valley of Keziz,

22 And Betharabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,

23 And Avim, and Pharah, and Ophrah,

24 And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages:

25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

26 And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,

27 And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,

28 And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

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The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa(A)—the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake,(B) when Uzziah(C) was king of Judah and Jeroboam(D) son of Jehoash[a] was king of Israel.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

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“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar[a](A) king of Babylon, king of kings,(B) with horses and chariots,(C) with horsemen and a great army. He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works(D) against you, build a ramp(E) up to your walls and raise his shields against you. He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons.(F) 10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the warhorses, wagons and chariots(G) when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through. 11 The hooves(H) of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars(I) will fall to the ground.(J) 12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.(K) 13 I will put an end(L) to your noisy songs,(M) and the music of your harps(N) will be heard no more.(O) 14 I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt,(P) for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.

15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Will not the coastlands(Q) tremble(R) at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan(S) and the slaughter takes place in you? 16 Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered(T) garments. Clothed(U) with terror, they will sit on the ground,(V) trembling(W) every moment, appalled(X) at you. 17 Then they will take up a lament(Y) concerning you and say to you:

“‘How you are destroyed, city of renown,
    peopled by men of the sea!
You were a power on the seas,
    you and your citizens;
you put your terror
    on all who lived there.(Z)
18 Now the coastlands tremble(AA)
    on the day of your fall;
the islands in the sea
    are terrified at your collapse.’(AB)

19 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I make you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths(AC) over you and its vast waters cover you,(AD) 20 then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit,(AE) to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place[b] in the land of the living.(AF) 21 I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more.(AG) You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign Lord.”(AH)

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 26:7 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Ezekiel and Jeremiah
  2. Ezekiel 26:20 Septuagint; Hebrew return, and I will give glory

For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.

He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.

And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.

10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.

11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.

12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.

13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.

14 And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

15 Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?

16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.

17 And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!

18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.

19 For thus saith the Lord God; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;

20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;

21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God.

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I will summon(A) all the peoples of the north(B) and my servant(C) Nebuchadnezzar(D) king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[a](E) them and make them an object of horror and scorn,(F) and an everlasting ruin.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 25:9 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

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22 Listen! The report is coming—
    a great commotion from the land of the north!(A)
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,(B)
    a haunt of jackals.(C)

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22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.

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Coming Destruction

17 Gather up your belongings(A) to leave the land,
    you who live under siege.
18 For this is what the Lord says:
    “At this time I will hurl(B) out
    those who live in this land;
I will bring distress(C) on them
    so that they may be captured.”

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17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.

18 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.

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