² “Judah mourns,^(B)
    her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
    and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
³ The nobles send their servants for water;
    they go to the cisterns
    but find no water.^(C)
They return with their jars unfilled;
    dismayed and despairing,
    they cover their heads.^(D)
4 The ground is cracked
    because there is no rain in the land;^(E)
the farmers are dismayed
    and cover their heads.
⁵ Even the doe in the field
    deserts her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.^(F)
6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights^(G)
    and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
    for lack of food.”^(H)

⁷ “I also withheld^(A) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.^(B)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.