²⁰ It will ^(A)never be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation;
Nor will the ^[a](B)Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
²¹ But ^(C)desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of ^[b]owls;
Ostriches also will dwell there, and ^[c]shaggy goats will leap there.
^22 [d]And hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious ^(D)palaces.
Her fateful time also ^[e]will soon come
And her days will not be prolonged.

¹¹ I will make Jerusalem a ^(A)heap of ruins,
A haunt of ^(B)jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a ^(C)desolation, without inhabitant.”

²² The sound of a ^(A)report! Behold, it comes—
A great quaking ^(B)out of the land of the north—
To ^(C)make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

⁹ Therefore, as I live,” declares Yahweh of hosts,
The God of Israel,
“Surely ^(A)Moab will be like ^(B)Sodom
And the sons of ^(C)Ammon like ^(D)Gomorrah—
A place possessed by nettles and salt pits,
And a perpetual desolation.
The remnant of My people will ^(E)plunder them,
And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”