"They will devouryour harvestand your food;They will devouryour sonsand your daughters;They will devouryour flocksand your herds;They will devouryour vinesand your figtrees;They will demolishwith the swordyour fortifiedcitiesin whichyou trust.
"A peoplewhomyou do not knowshall eatup the produceof your groundand allyour labors,and you will neverbe anythingbut oppressedand crushedcontinually.
I, in turn,will dothisto you: I will appointoveryou a suddenterror,consumptionand feverthat will wasteawaythe eyesand cause the soulto pineaway;also, you will sowyour seeduselessly,for your enemieswill eatit up.
"I have cutoffnations;Their cornertowersare in ruins.I have madetheir streetsdesolate,With noonepassingby; Their citiesare laidwaste,Withouta man,withoutan inhabitant.
For Israelhas forgottenhis Makerand builtpalaces;And Judahhas multipliedfortifiedcities,But I will senda fireon its citiesthat it may consumeits palatialdwellings.
Therefore,O mountainsof Israel,hearthe wordof the LordGOD.Thussaysthe LordGODto the mountainsand to the hills,to the ravinesand to the valleys,to the desolatewastesand to the forsakencitieswhichhave becomea preyand a derisionto the restof the nationswhichare roundabout,
The Lordhas swallowedup; He has not sparedAllthe habitationsof Jacob.In His wrathHe has throwndownThe strongholdsof the daughterof Judah;He has brought[them] downto the ground;He has profanedthe kingdomand its princes.
"Israelis a scatteredflock,the lionshave driven[them] away.The firstone[who] devouredhim was the kingof Assyria,and thislastone[who] has brokenhis bonesis Nebuchadnezzarkingof Babylon.
"Allwho cameupon them have devouredthem; And their adversarieshave said,We are not guilty,Inasmuchas they have sinnedagainst the LORD[who is] the habitationof righteousness,Even the LORD,the hopeof their fathers.'
From Danis heardthe snortingof his horses;At the soundof the neighingof his stallionsThe wholelandquakes;For they comeand devourthe landand its fullness,The cityand its inhabitants.
I looked,and behold,the fruitfullandwas a wilderness,And allits citieswere pulleddownBeforethe LORD,beforeHis fierceanger.
"A lionhas goneup from his thicket,And a destroyerof nationshas setout; He has goneout from his placeTo makeyour landa waste.Your citieswill be ruinsWithoutinhabitant.
"For, behold,I am callingallthe familiesof the kingdomsof the north,"declaresthe LORD;"and they will comeand they will seteachonehis throneat the entranceof the gatesof Jerusalem,and againstallits wallsroundaboutand againstallthe citiesof Judah.
"They will not buildand anotherinhabit,They will not plantand anothereat;For as the lifetimeof a tree,[so will be] the daysof My people,And My chosenoneswill wearout the workof their hands.
But those who garnerit will eatit and praisethe LORD;And those who gatherit will drinkit in the courtsof My sanctuary.
The LORDhas swornby His righthandand by His strongarm,"I will neveragaingiveyour grain[as] foodfor your enemies;Norwill foreignersdrinkyour newwinefor whichyou have labored."
"Yet evenin thosedays,"declaresthe LORD,"I will not makeyou a completedestruction.
"I will surelysnatchthem away,"declaresthe LORD;"Therewill be nograpeson the vineAnd nofigson the figtree,And the leafwill wither;And what I have giventhem will passaway."'"
"And the peacefulfoldsare madesilentBecauseof the fierceangerof the LORD.
They sayto their mothers,"Whereis grainand wine?"As they faintlike a woundedmanIn the streetsof the city,As their lifeis pouredout On their mothers'bosom.
"I will destroyher vinesand figtrees,Of whichshe said,'Theseare my wagesWhichmy lovershave givenme.' And I will makethem a forest,And the beastsof the fieldwill devourthem.
ThoughEdomsays,"We have been beatendown,but we will returnand buildup the ruins";thussaysthe LORDof hosts,"They may build,but I will teardown;and [men] will callthem the wickedterritory,and the peopletoward whomthe LORDis indignantforever."
A fireconsumesbeforethem And behindthem a flameburns.The landis like the gardenof Edenbeforethem But a desolatewildernessbehindthem, And nothingat allescapesthem.
