“If thieves came to you, if robbers by night— how ruined you would be!— would they keep stealing after they had enough? If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning?
Only gleanings will remain, as when beating an olive tree— two or three olives at the very top, four or five on a fruitful tree’s branches. It is a declaration of Adonai God of Israel.
How lonely sits the city, once so full of people! She who was once great among the nations has become like a widow. The princess among the provinces has become a forced laborer.
This is the exultant city, dwelling securely, saying in her heart, ‘It’s me--no one else but me!’ How did she become a ruin, an abode for wild beasts? Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
standing far off because of the terror of her torment, saying: “Alas, alas, O great city— O Babylon, the mighty city! For in a single hour your judgment has come!”