23 I looked at the earth,

and it was formless and empty;

and at the heavens,

and their light was gone.

24 I looked at the mountains,

and they were quaking;

all the hills were swaying.

25 I looked, and there were no people;

every bird in the sky had flown away.

26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;

all its towns lay in ruins

before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

27 This is what the Lord says:

“The whole land will be ruined,

though I will not destroy it completely.

28 Therefore the earth will mourn

and the heavens above grow dark,

because I have spoken and will not relent,

I have decided and will not turn back.”

29 At the sound of horsemen and archers

every town takes to flight.

Some go into the thickets;

some climb up among the rocks.

All the towns are deserted;

no one lives in them.

23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void;

and to the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,

and all the hills moved to and fro.

25 I looked, and behold, there was no man,

and all the birds of the air had fled.

26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,

and all its cities were laid in ruins

before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

28 “For this the earth shall mourn,

and the heavens above be dark;

for I have spoken; I have purposed;

I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”

29 At the noise of horseman and archer

every city takes to flight;

they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;

all the cities are forsaken,

and no man dwells in them.

23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void;

And the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,

And all the hills moved lightly.

25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man,

And all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,

And all the cities thereof were broken down

At the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.

27 For thus hath the Lord said,

The whole land shall be desolate;

Yet will I not make a full end.

28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black:

Because I have spoken it, I have purposed it,

And will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen;

They shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks:

Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

23 I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless.

I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.

24 I looked at the mountains and hills,

and they trembled and shook.

25 I looked, and all the people were gone.

All the birds of the sky had flown away.

26 I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness.

The towns lay in ruins,

crushed by the Lord’s fierce anger.

27 This is what the Lord says:

“The whole land will be ruined,

but I will not destroy it completely.

28 The earth will mourn

and the heavens will be draped in black

because of my decree against my people.

I have made up my mind and will not change it.”

29 At the noise of charioteers and archers,

the people flee in terror.

They hide in the bushes

and run for the mountains.

All the towns have been abandoned—

not a person remains!

23 I looked at the earth,

and it was empty and had no shape.

I looked at the sky,

and its light was gone.

24 I looked at the mountains,

and they were shaking.

All the hills were trembling.

25 I looked, and there were no people.

Every bird in the sky had flown away.

26 I looked, and the good, rich land had become a desert.

All its towns had been destroyed

by the Lord and his great anger.

27 This is what the Lord says:

“All the land will be ruined,

but I will not completely destroy it.

28 So the people in the land will cry loudly,

and the sky will grow dark,

because I have spoken and will not change my mind.

I have made a decision, and I will not change it.”

29 At the sound of the horsemen and the archers,

all the people in the towns run away.

They hide in the thick bushes

and climb up into the rocks.

All of the cities of Judah are empty;

no one lives in them.

23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro. 25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, and before his fierce anger.

27 For thus saith Jehovah, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end. 28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it. 29 Every city fleeth for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein.

23 I beheld the earth, and lo, it was waste and empty; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills shook violently. 25 I beheld, and lo, man was not, and all the fowl of the heavens were fled. 26 I beheld, and lo, the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down, before Jehovah, before his fierce anger. 27 For thus saith Jehovah: The whole land shall be a desolation; but I will not make a full end. 28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back therefrom. 29 At the noise of the horsemen and bowmen, every city fleeth; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken and no man dwelleth therein.

23 I see the earth. It’s formless and empty. 

I see the sky. Its lights are gone. 

24 I see the mountains. They are shaking, 

and the hills are swaying. 

25 I see that there are no people, 

and every bird has flown away. 

26 I see that the fertile land has become a desert, 

and all its cities are torn down 

because of the Lord and his burning anger. 

27 This is what the Lord says: 

The whole earth will be ruined, 

although I will not destroy it completely. 

28 The earth will mourn, and the sky will grow black. 

I have spoken, and I have planned it. 

I won’t change my plans, and I won’t turn back. 

29 All the people in the city will flee 

at the sound of riders and archers. 

They will go off into the thickets 

and climb among the rocks. 

The entire city will be abandoned, and no one will live in it. 

23 I looked at the earth,

and it was formless and empty.

I looked to the heavens,

and their light was gone.

24 I looked at the mountains,

and they were quaking;

all the hills shook.

25 I looked, and no man was left;

all the birds of the sky had fled.

26 I looked, and the fertile field was a wilderness.

All its cities were torn down

because of the Lord

and His burning anger.

27 For this is what the Lord says:

The whole land will be a desolation,

but I will not finish it off.

28 Because of this, the earth will mourn;

the skies above will grow dark.

I have spoken; I have planned,

and I will not relent or turn back from it.

29 Every city flees

at the sound of the horseman and the archer.

They enter the thickets

and climb among the rocks.

Every city is abandoned;

no inhabitant is left.

23 I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;

and to the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking,

and all the hills moved to and fro.

25 I looked, and lo, there was no one at all,

and all the birds of the air had fled.

26 I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert,

and all its cities were laid in ruins

before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

27 For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

28 Because of this the earth shall mourn,

and the heavens above grow black;

for I have spoken, I have purposed;

I have not relented nor will I turn back.

29 At the noise of horseman and archer

every town takes to flight;

they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;

all the towns are forsaken,

and no one lives in them.

23 I looked at the earth, and behold, it was wasteland and emptiness,

and to the heavens, and they were without their light.

24 I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,

and all of the hills were jolted to and fro.

25 I looked and behold, there was no person,

and all of the birds of the sky had fled.

26 I looked and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,

and all of its cities were ruined before Yahweh,

before the face of his burning anger.

27 For thus says Yahweh, “All of the land will be a desolation,

yet I will not make a complete desolation.

28 Because of this the earth will mourn,

and the heavens above will become dark.

Because I have spoken, I have planned,

and I have not relented, and I will not turn back from it.”

29 From the sound of a horseman and an archer every town flees,

they enter in the thickets and among the rocks they climb.

Every town is forsaken,

and there is no person who lives in them.

23 I looked at the earth.

It didn’t have any shape. And it was empty.

I looked at the sky.

Its light was gone.

24 I looked at the mountains.

They were shaking.

All of the hills were swaying.

25 I looked. And there weren’t any people.

Every bird in the sky had flown away.

26 I looked. And the fruitful land had become a desert.

All of its towns were destroyed.

The Lord had done all of that because of his burning anger.

27 The Lord says,

“The whole land will be destroyed.

But I will not destroy it completely.

28 So the earth will be filled with sadness.

The sky above will grow dark.

I have spoken, and I will not take pity on them.

I have made my decision, and I will not change my mind.”

29 People can hear the sound of horsemen.

Men who are armed with bows are coming.

The people in every town run away.

Some of them go into the bushes.

Others climb up among the rocks.

All of the towns are deserted.

No one is living in them.

23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void;

And to the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,

And all the hills moved to and fro.

25 I looked, and behold, there was no man,

And all the birds of the heavens had fled.

26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness,

And all its cities were pulled down

Before the Lord, before His fierce anger.

27 For thus says the Lord,

“The whole land shall be a desolation,

Yet I will not execute a complete destruction.

28 “For this the earth shall mourn

And the heavens above be dark,

Because I have spoken, I have purposed,

And I will not change My mind, nor will I turn from it.”

29 At the sound of the horseman and bowman every city flees;

They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks;

Every city is forsaken,

And no man dwells in them.