because the palaces have been forsaken, the populated city is forsaken. The forts and towers shall be caves forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,
After this he built an outer wall for the City of David, west of Gihon, in the valley and toward the entrance of the Fish Gate, where it went around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. Then he positioned military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.
For the fortified city shall be desolate, a homestead forlorn and forsaken like a wilderness; there the calf shall graze, and there it shall lie down and eat its branches.
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste without inhabitants, and the houses without man, and the land is utterly desolate,
For thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword:
lest I strip her naked and leave her as in the day that she was born, and turn her into a wilderness, and turn her into a dry land, and kill her with thirst.
Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will be mounds of ruins, and the mountain of the house will become wooded heights.
This is the rejoicing city that dwelt securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” How has she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and shake his fist.
The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they will feed. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will visit them and restore their fortunes.
They will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led away captive to all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.