Jeremiah 6:1-10

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

6 Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin,
    from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
    and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem;
for evil looms out of the north,
    and great destruction.
² I have likened daughter Zion
    to the loveliest pasture.^[a]
3 Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her.
    They shall pitch their tents around her;
    they shall pasture, all in their places.
⁴ ‘Prepare war against her;
    up, and let us attack at noon!’
‘Woe to us, for the day declines,
    the shadows of evening lengthen!’
⁵ ‘Up, and let us attack by night,
    and destroy her palaces!’
⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts:
Cut down her trees;
    cast up a siege-ramp against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished;^[b]
    there is nothing but oppression within her.
⁷ As a well keeps its water fresh,
    so she keeps fresh her wickedness;
violence and destruction are heard within her;
    sickness and wounds are ever before me.
⁸ Take warning, O Jerusalem,
    or I shall turn from you in disgust,
and make you a desolation,
    an uninhabited land.