12 Beat your breasts in grief, because the fields that were pleasant are now empty.Cry, because the vines that once had fruit now have no more grapes.
13 Cry for the land of my people,in which only thorns and weeds now grow.Cry for the city that once was happyand for all the houses that once were filled with joy.
14 The palace will be empty;people will leave the noisy city.Strong cities and towers will be empty.Wild donkeys will love to live there, and sheep will go there to eat.
15 This will continue until God pours his Spirit from above upon us.Then the desert will be like a fertile fieldand the fertile field like a forest.
16 Justice will be found even in the desert,and fairness will be found in the fertile fields.
17 That fairness will bring peace,and it will bring calm and safety forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful placesand in safe homesand in calm places of rest.