For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at treading time. A little longer, and the time of harvest for her will come.”
The parched land will become a pool, the thirsty ground springs of water. In the haunt of jackals, where they rest, grass will become reeds and rushes.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time. It hastens to the end and will not fail. If it should be slow in coming, wait for it, For it will surely come—it will not delay.”
For the palace will be abandoned; the bustling city will be deserted; the citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, a delight of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
The field animals honor Me —the jackals and the ostriches— because I give waters in the desert, rivers in the wilderness, to give drink to My chosen people,
Who is the one wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of Adonai spoken that he may explain it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?”
“I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, with marshes of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction.” It is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Flocks will lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts— both the little owl and the great owl will lodge in her pillars. A voice will hoot in the window. Ruin will be in the doorway, for the cedar beams will be exposed.