For You have madea cityinto a heap,A fortifiedcityinto a ruin;A palaceof strangersis a citynomore,It will neverbe rebuilt.
"Behold,He tearsdown,and it cannotbe rebuilt;He imprisonsa man,and there can be norelease.
It will neverbe inhabitedor livedin from generationto generation;Norwill the Arabpitch[his] tentthere,Norwill shepherdsmake [their flocks] liedownthere.
But desertcreatureswill liedownthere,And their houseswill be fullof owls;Ostrichesalso will livethere,and shaggygoatswill frolicthere.
Hyenaswill howlin their fortifiedtowers And jackalsin their luxuriouspalaces.Her [fateful] timealso will sooncomeAnd her dayswill not be prolonged.
"I will also makeit a possessionfor the hedgehogand swampsof water,and I will sweepit with the broomof destruction,"declaresthe LORDof hosts.
The oracleconcerning Damascus."Behold,Damascusis about to be removedfrom being a cityAnd will becomea fallenruin.
"The fortifiedcitywill disappearfrom Ephraim,And sovereigntyfrom DamascusAnd the remnantof Aram;They will be like the gloryof the sonsof Israel,"Declaresthe LORDof hosts.
"Now behold,herecomesa troopof riders,horsemenin pairs."And one said,"Fallen,fallenis Babylon;And allthe imagesof her godsare shatteredon the ground."
He has stretchedHis handout overthe sea,He has made the kingdomstremble;The LORDhas givena commandconcerningCanaanto demolishits strongholds.
Behold,the landof the Chaldeans--thisis the people[which] was not; Assyriaappointedit for desertcreatures--they erectedtheir siegetowers,they strippedits palaces,they madeit a ruin.
The cityof chaosis brokendown;Everyhouseis shutup sothat nonemay enter.
The unassailablefortificationsof your wallsHe will bringdown,Laylow[and] castto the ground,evento the dust.
"For He has broughtlowthose who dwellon high,the unassailablecity;He laysit low,He laysit lowto the ground,He castsit to the dust.
For the fortifiedcityis isolated,A homesteadforlornand forsakenlike the desert;Therethe calfwill graze,And thereit will liedownand feedon its branches.
Becausethe palacehas been abandoned,the populatedcityforsaken.Hilland watch-towerhave becomecavesforever,A delightfor wilddonkeys,a pasturefor flocks;
And it will hailwhen the forestcomesdown,And the citywill be utterlylaidlow.
Thornswill comeup in its fortifiedtowers,Nettlesand thistlesin its fortifiedcities;It will also be a hauntof jackals[And] an abodeof ostriches.
"Have you not heard?LongagoI didit, From ancienttimesI plannedit. NowI have broughtit to pass,That you should turnfortifiedcitiesinto ruinousheaps.
"They will not takefrom you [even] a stonefor a cornerNora stonefor foundations,But you will be desolateforever,"declaresthe LORD.
"I will makeJerusalema heapof ruins, A hauntof jackals;And I will makethe citiesof Judaha desolation,withoutinhabitant."
"Then you shall gatherallits bootyinto the middleof its opensquareand burnthe cityand allits bootywith fireas a wholeburntofferingto the LORDyour God;and it shall be a ruinforever.It shall neverbe rebuilt.
"And they threwduston their headsand were cryingout, weepingand mourning,saying,Woe,woe,the greatcity,in whichallwho hadshipsat seabecame richby her wealth,for in onehourshe has been laid waste!'
