In the day of thy planting thou hedge it in, and in the morning thou make thy seed to blossom. But the harvest flees away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
Who is the wise man, who may understand this, and he to whom the mouth of LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why has the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passes through?
Therefore thus says LORD, the God of hosts, LORD: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways. And they shall say in all the streets, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn each one to his people, and they shall flee each one to his own land.