Your country is devastated and your cities burned to the ground; foreigners plunder your crops before your eyes— with nothing but devastation and destruction in their wake!
I will dry up the waterways of the Nile and hand over the country to evil men. I will cause the land to be destroyed and everything in it, at the hand of foreigners. I, Yahweh, have spoken.”
This is what Yahweh, the Commander of Angel Armies, said in my ears: “Truly, many of your houses will become devastated and your large, impressive mansions will have no one living in them!
And the daughter of Zion is left as helpless as a deserted shack in a vineyard or a flimsy shelter in a field of cucumbers— in every way like a city besieged!
Surely wickedness burned like an out-of-control fire, consuming thorns and thistles. It set ablaze the thickets of the forest with flames swirling upward in columns of smoke.
“Although once you were rejected and despised, undesirable for anyone to pass through you, I will make you majestic forever, a source of joy for every generation.
Yahweh swears an oath by the authority of his right hand and by his mighty arm: “I will never again give your new grain as food for your enemies, nor will foreigners drink your new wine that you worked hard to produce.
A nation-wrecker is on the prowl like a lion coming up from his lair. He is roused from his den to ransack your land. Your cities will be ruined and left without inhabitant.
I will silence the sounds of mirth and gladness from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, the happy sounds of wedding feasts—the voice of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.’ ”
So I let loose a firestorm of my anger, burning down the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem until nothing remained but a desolate wasteland, as it still is today.
Therefore, behold! I am handing you over to the tribes of the eastern desert to come and take possession of you. They will take over your country and make their home in you. They will feast on the crops of your fields and drink the milk.