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12 Beat your breasts [C a sign of mourning or grief], ·because the fields that were pleasant are now empty [L for the pleasant fields].
    ·Cry, because the vines that once had fruit now have no more grapes [L …for the fruitful vine].
13 ·Cry for [L …for] the land of my people,
    in which only thorns and weeds now grow [Gen. 3:18].
·Cry for [L …for] the city that once was happy
    and for all the houses that once were filled with joy.
14 The ·palace [or fortress] will be ·empty [abandoned; deserted];
    the ·noisy [bustling; populous] city will be abandoned.
·Strong cities and towers [or The citadel and the watchtower] will be empty.
    Wild donkeys will love to live there, and sheep will go there to eat.

Things Will Get Better

15 This will continue until ·God pours his Spirit [L the Spirit is poured] from ·above [heaven; T on high] upon us.
    Then the desert will be like ·rich farmland [a fertile/fruitful field]
    and the ·rich farmland [fertile/fruitful field] like a forest [29:17; 35:1, 2].
16 Justice will ·be found [L dwell] even in the desert,
    and fairness will be found in the ·rich farmland [fertile/fruitful field].
17 That fairness will bring peace,
    and it will bring ·calm [quietness] and ·safety [trust; confidence] forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful places
    and in ·safe [secure] homes
    and in ·calm [quiet] places of rest.
19 Hail will destroy the forest,
    and the city will be ·completely destroyed [brought down; laid low].
20 But you will be ·happy [blessed] as you plant seeds near every stream
    and as you let [L the feet of] your cattle and donkeys wander freely.

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