23. I beheld ha'aretz, and, hinei, it was tohu vavohu [Genesis 1:2]; and HaShomayim--there was no ohr.
24. I beheld the mountains, and, hinei, they quaked, and all the hills had crumbled.
25. I beheld, and, hinei, there was no adam, and kol oph HaShomayim fled away.
26. I beheld, and, hinei, the carmel was a midbar, and all the cities thereof lay in ruins before Hashem, before the charon af Hashem.
27. For thus hath Hashem said, A wasteland shall be kol HaAretz; yet I will not make a complete end of it.