For lo, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord; and they shall come and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

And you, O generation, heed the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why then do my people say, ‘We are free, we will come no more to thee’?

From it too you will come away with your hands upon your head, for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them.

Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have a harlot’s brow, you refuse to be ashamed.

And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; it shall not be made again.

In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.

“Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to thee; for thou art the Lord our God.

a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”

Behold, he comes up like clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles— woe to us, for we are ruined!

Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, “Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.

They have spoken falsely of the Lord, and have said, ‘He will do nothing; no evil will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.

the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?

The comely and delicately bred I will destroy, the daughter of Zion.

Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her; they shall pitch their tents around her, they shall pasture, each in his place.

To what purpose does frankincense come to me from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.

O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?

And they have built the high place of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

“The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan; at the sound of the neighing of their stallions the whole land quakes. They come and devour the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it.

The People Mourn in Judgment

Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skilful women to come;

For death has come up into our windows, it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.

Hark, a rumor! Behold, it comes!— a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.

Upon all the bare heights in the desert destroyers have come; for the sword of the Lord devours from one end of the land to the other; no flesh has peace.

And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Ba′al, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people.

Say to the king and the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.”