How long is the land to mourn And the plants of every field to dry up? Because of the evil of those who inhabit it, Animals and birds have been swept away, Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.”
“So gladness and joy are gathered up From the fruitful orchard, even from the land of Moab. And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses; No one will tread them with shouting, The shouting will not be shouts of joy.
Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who inhabits it languishes Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, And also the fish of the sea disappear.
The vine dries up, And the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed, rejoicing dries up From the sons of men.
Then Yahweh will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no produce on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields yield no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls,
And I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”