²⁰ It will ^(A)never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the ^(B)Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds allow their flocks to lie down there.
²¹ But ^(C)desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of ^[a]owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and ^[b]shaggy goats will frolic there.
^22 [c]Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious ^(D)palaces.
Her fateful time also ^[d]will soon come,
And her days will not be prolonged.

¹⁰ It will ^(A)not be extinguished night or day;
Its ^(B)smoke will go up forever.
From ^(C)generation to generation it will be desolate;
^(D)None will pass through it forever and ever.
¹¹ But ^[a](E)pelican and hedgehog will possess it,
And ^[b]owl and raven will dwell in it;
And He will stretch over it the ^(F)line of ^[c]desolation
And the ^[d]plumb line of emptiness.
¹² Its nobles—there is ^(G)no one there
Whom they may proclaim king—
And all its officials will be ^(H)nothing.
¹³ Thorns will come up in its ^(I)fortified towers,
Weeds and thistles in its fortified cities;
It will also be a haunt of ^(J)jackals
And a habitat of ostriches.
¹⁴ The desert ^(K)creatures will meet with the ^[e]wolves,
The ^[f](L)goat also will cry to its kind.
Yes, the ^[g]night-bird will settle there
And will find herself a resting place.
¹⁵ The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there,
And it will hatch and gather them under its ^[h]protection.
Yes, ^(M)the ^[i]hawks will be gathered there,
Every one with its kind.