The people have planted wheat, but they have harvested only thorns. They have worked hard until they were very tired, but they have nothing for all their work. They are ashamed of their poor harvest, because the Lord’s terrible anger has caused this.”
How much longer will the land stay dried up and the grass in every field be dead? The animals and birds in the land have died, because the people are evil. Yes, they are even saying, “God does not see what happens to us.”
I will end the happy sounds of the bride and bridegroom. There will be no happy sounds in the cities of Judah or in the streets of Jerusalem, because the land will become an empty desert!
I, Jeremiah, will cry loudly for the mountains and sing a funeral song for the empty fields. They are empty, and no one passes through. The mooing of cattle cannot be heard. The birds have flown away, and the animals are gone.
The Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his Temple. He has handed over to the enemy the walls of Jerusalem’s palaces. Their uproar in the Lord’s Temple was like that of a feast day.
Because of you, Jerusalem will be plowed like a field. The city will become a pile of rocks, and the hill on which the Temple stands will be covered with bushes.
On the day that God will show his anger, neither their silver nor gold will save them. The Lord’s anger will be like a fire that will burn up the whole world; suddenly he will bring an end, yes, an end to everyone on earth.”