²³ I looked at the earth, and behold, it was a ^[a](A)formless and desolate emptiness;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
²⁴ I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were ^(B)quaking,
And all the hills jolted back and forth.
²⁵ I looked, and behold, there was no human,
And all the ^(C)birds of the sky had fled.
²⁶ I looked, and behold, ^[b]the ^(D)fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the Lord, before His fierce anger.

²⁷ For this is what the Lord says:
“The ^(E)whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will ^(F)not execute a complete destruction.
²⁸ For this the ^(G)earth will mourn,
And the ^(H)heavens above will become dark,
Because I have ^(I)spoken, I have purposed,
And I have not ^[c]changed My mind, nor will I turn from it.”
²⁹ At the sound of the horseman and archer ^(J)every city flees;
They ^(K)go into the thickets and climb among the rocks;
^(L)Every city is abandoned,
And no one lives in them.