the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, ¹ 

the little owl, the cormorant, the screech owl,

the white owl, the scops owl, the osprey,

I am like an owl ¹  in the wilderness; I am like a screech owl ²  among the ruins. ³ 

the eagle owl, ¹  the short-eared owl, the long-eared owl, the hawk of any kind,

the jackdaw, ¹  the carrion vulture, the cormorant,

the ostrich, ¹  the owl, ²  the seagull, the falcon ³  after its species,

Owls and wild animals ¹  will live there, ²  all kinds of wild birds ³  will settle in it. The Lord ⁴  will stretch out over her the measuring line of ruin and the plumb line ⁵  of destruction. ⁶ 

I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches. ¹ 

Wild animals will rest there, the ruined ¹  houses will be full of hyenas. ²  Ostriches will live there, wild goats will skip among the ruins. ³ 

Owls ¹  will make nests and lay eggs ²  there; they will hatch them and protect them. ³  Yes, hawks ⁴  will gather there, each with its mate.

For this reason I ¹  will mourn and wail; I will walk around barefoot ²  and without my outer garments. ³  I will howl ⁴  like a wild dog, ⁵  and screech ⁶  like an owl. ⁷ 

Flocks and herds ¹  will lie down in the middle of it, as well as every kind of wild animal. ²  Owls ³  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars; they will hoot through the windows. ⁴  Rubble will cover the thresholds; ⁵  even the cedar work ⁶  will be exposed to the elements. ⁷ 

Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns; thickets and weeds will grow ¹  in her fortified cities. Jackals will settle there; ostriches will live there. ² 

The wild animals of the desert honor me, the jackals and ostriches, because I put water in the desert and streams in the wilderness, to quench the thirst of my chosen people,

Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there. Ostriches ¹  will dwell in it too. ²  But no people will ever live there again. No one will dwell there for all time to come. ³ 

“I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals ¹  and covered with pools of stagnant water. I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,” ²  says the Lord who commands armies.

Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; ¹  wild goats will bleat to one another. ²  Yes, nocturnal animals ³  will rest there and make for themselves a nest. ⁴