12 Beat your breasts in grief because the fertile fields and the vineyards have been destroyed,
13 and thorn bushes and briars are growing on my people's land. Weep for all the houses where people were happy and for the city that was full of life.
14 Even the palace will be abandoned and the capital city totally deserted. Homes and the forts that guarded them will be in ruins for ever. Wild donkeys will roam there, and sheep will find pasture there.
15 But once more God will send us his Spirit. The waste land will become fertile, and fields will produce rich crops.
16 Everywhere in the land righteousness and justice will be done.
17 Because everyone will do what is right, there will be peace and security for ever.
18 God's people will be free from worries, and their homes peaceful and safe.