I will make it a wasteland, and no one will cultivate the land. It will grow only weeds and thorns! I will command the clouds and they will not drop their rain upon it!
They have authority to shut the heavens so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophesying. They have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every plague imaginable, as often as they desire.
Many will be cut down by the sword or scattered as prisoners to many countries. And Jerusalem shall be trampled down by nations until the days of world empires come to an end.”
But here is a message for you. Yahweh says to you: ‘That which I have built I am about to knock down, and what I have planted I will uproot over the entire land.
Can any of the false gods of foreign nations give us rain? Can the skies by themselves give showers? Only you can, O Yahweh, our God! So, we place all our hope in you, for only you accomplish all these things.
Then God will supply you with abundant rain for the seeds you sow. He will bless you with an incredible, plentiful harvest. And in that day he will give you lush, broad pastures for your cattle.
Cypress trees will flourish where there were only thorns and myrtle trees instead of briars. These will stand as a testimony to Yahweh’s renown, everlasting signs that will not be cut off.
He wrecked his temple like a vineyard shack and utterly destroyed his meeting place. Yahweh erased the memory in Zion of his appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In the heat of his anger, he spurned both king and priest.