¹⁷ There the birds make their nests,
    and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.

¹² The birds nest beside the streams
    and sing among the branches of the trees.

⁴ But even if you soar as high as eagles
    and build your nest among the stars,
I will bring you crashing down,”
    says the Lord.

⁶ The birds nested in its branches,
    and in its shade all the wild animals gave birth.
All the great nations of the world
    lived in its shadow.

²³ It may be nice to live in a beautiful palace
    paneled with wood from the cedars of Lebanon,
but soon you will groan with pangs of anguish—
    anguish like that of a woman in labor.

⁷ Even the stork that flies across the sky
    knows the time of her migration,
as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.^[a]
    They all return at the proper time each year.
But not my people!
    They do not know the Lord’s laws.