²³ I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void, and the heavens, and they had no light. ²⁴ I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. ²⁵ I saw, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky had fled. ²⁶ I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, before his fierce anger. ²⁷ For Yahweh says, “The whole land will be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. ²⁸ For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken it. I have planned it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.”

²⁹ Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers. They go into the thickets, and climb up on the rocks. Every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein.