Jeremiah 6:1

The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted

6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!

Get out of Jerusalem!¹

Sound the trumpet² in Tekoa!

Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster lurks³ out of the north;

it will bring great destruction.⁴

Ezekiel 33:2-6

33:2 “Son of man, speak to your people,⁵ and say to them, ‘Suppose I bring a sword against the land, and the people of the land take one man from their borders and make him their watchman. 33:3 He sees the sword coming against the land, blows the trumpet,⁶ and warns the people,⁷ 33:4 but there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death.⁸ 33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself.⁹ If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life. 33:6 But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity,¹⁰ but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’¹¹

Hosea 8:1

God Will Raise Up the Assyrians to Attack Israel

8:1 Sound the alarm!¹²

An eagle¹³ looms over the temple of the Lord!

For they have broken their covenant with me,¹⁴

and have rebelled against my law.

Amos 3:6

3:6 If an alarm sounds¹⁵ in a city, do people not fear?¹⁶

If disaster overtakes a¹⁷ city, is the Lord not responsible?¹⁸

Amos 3:8

3:8 A lion has roared!¹⁹ Who is not afraid?

The sovereign Lord has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy?²⁰

¹tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”

²tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

³tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.

⁴tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.

⁵tn Heb “sons of your people.”

⁶tn Heb “shofar,” a ram’s horn rather than a brass instrument (so throughout the chapter).

⁷tn Sounding the trumpet was a warning of imminent danger (Neh 4:18-20; Jer 4:19; Amos 3:6).

⁸tn Heb “his blood will be on his own head.”

⁹tn Heb “his blood will be on him.”

¹⁰tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 8 and 9; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.

¹¹tn Heb “his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.”

¹²tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”

¹³tn Or perhaps “A vulture.” Some identify the species indicated by the Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) as the griffon vulture (cf. NEB, NRSV).

¹⁴tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “the covenant I made with them.”

¹⁵tn Heb “If the ram’s horn is blown.”

¹⁶tn Or “tremble” (NASB, NIV, NCV); or “shake.”

¹⁷tn Heb “is in”; NIV, NCV, NLT “comes to.”

¹⁸tn Heb “has the Lord not acted?”

¹⁹sn The roar of the lion is here a metaphor for impending judgment (see 1:2; cf. 3:4, 12). Verses 7-8 justify Amos’ prophetic ministry and message of warning and judgment. The people should expect a prophetic message prior to divine action.

²⁰sn Who can refuse to prophesy? When a message is revealed, the prophet must speak, and the news of impending judgment should cause people to fear.