To whomI gavethe wildernessfor a homeAnd the saltlandfor his dwellingplace?
"Behold,as wilddonkeysin the wildernessThey goforthseekingfoodin their activity,As breadfor [their] childrenin the desert.
"He scornsthe tumultof the city,The shoutingsof the driverhe does not hear.
A fruitfullandinto a saltwaste,Becauseof the wickednessof those who dwellin it.
"The wilddonkeysstandon the bareheights;They pantfor airlike jackals,Their eyesfailFor thereis novegetation.
"For he will be like a bushin the desertAnd will not seewhenprosperitycomes,But will livein stonywastesin the wilderness,A landof saltwithoutinhabitant.
A wilddonkeyaccustomedto the wilderness,That sniffsthe windin her passion.In [the time of] her heatwhocan turnher away?Allwho seekher will not becomeweary;In her monththey will findher.
"But its swampsand marsheswill not becomefresh;they will be leftfor salt.
For they have goneup to Assyria,[Like] a wilddonkeyall alone;Ephraimhas hiredlovers.
Allits landis brimstoneand salt,a burningwaste, unsownand unproductive,and nograssgrowsin it, like the overthrowof Sodomand Gomorrah,Admahand Zeboiim,whichthe LORDoverthrewin His angerand in His wrath.'
