Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards. No one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one stomps on grapes at the winepresses. That’s because the Lord has put an end to the shouting.
“ ‘ “I will take away their harvest,” announces the Lord. “There will not be any grapes on the vines. The trees will not bear any figs. The leaves on the trees will dry up. What I have given my people will be taken away from them.” ’ ”
I will destroy her vines and her fig trees. She said they were her pay from her lovers. I’ll make them like clumps of bushes and weeds. Wild animals will eat them up.
So the people of Israel will live for a long time without a king or prince. They won’t have sacrifices or sacred stones. They won’t have sacred linen aprons or statues of family gods.
The vines and fig trees are dried up. The pomegranate, palm and apple trees don’t have any fruit on them. In fact, all the trees in the fields are dried up. And my people’s joy has faded away.
The locusts have completely destroyed our vines. They have wiped out our fig trees. They’ve stripped off the bark and thrown it away. They’ve left the branches bare.
The fig trees might not bud. The vines might not produce any grapes. The olive crop might fail. The fields might not produce any food. There might not be any sheep in the pens. There might not be any cattle in the barns.
Their wealth will be stolen. Their houses will be destroyed. They will build houses. But they will not live in them. They will plant vineyards. But they will not drink the wine they produce.