May his children ¹  roam around begging, asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home! ² 

Your prophets have become like jackals among the ruins, O Israel.

with kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate, ¹ 

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

Lambs ¹  will graze as if in their pastures, amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze. ² 

I will lay your cities waste ¹  and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas.

I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ¹  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins; ¹  you destroyed their cities; ²  all memory of the enemies has perished. ³ 

They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions; he makes water flow out of a rock for them; he splits open a rock and water flows out.’ ¹ 

Yes, your land lies in ruins; it is desolate and devastated. ¹  But now you will be too small to hold your residents, and those who devoured you will be far away.

In unison give a joyful shout, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord consoles his people; he protects ¹  Jerusalem.

They will rebuild the perpetual ruins and restore the places that were desolate; ¹  they will reestablish the ruined cities, the places that have been desolate since ancient times.

“I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.

I will lay waste your cities; and you will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord!

I will multiply your people ¹  – the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be populated and the ruins rebuilt.

who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants ¹  and brings to pass the announcements ²  of his messengers, who says about Jerusalem, ³  ‘She will be inhabited,’ and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, her ruins I will raise up,’

Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; ¹  you will reestablish the ancient foundations. You will be called, ‘The one who repairs broken walls, the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’ ² 

Our holy temple, our pride and joy, ¹  the place where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire; all our prized possessions have been destroyed. ² 

I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, or the glad celebration of brides and grooms throughout the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. For the whole land will become a desolate wasteland.”

But, if you do not obey these commands, I solemnly swear ¹  that this palace will become a pile of rubble. I, the Lord, affirm it!” ²