to whom I appointed the steppe for its home, the salt wastes as its dwelling place?

Let the desert and dry region be happy; let the wilderness rejoice and bloom like a lily!

Then they will say, ‘Under these conditions I can enjoy sweet sleep when I wake up and look around.’”

Like wild donkeys in the desert they go out to their labor, seeking diligently for food; the wasteland provides food for them and for their children.

The one who lacks wisdom strikes hands in pledge, and puts up financial security for his neighbor.

They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; all joy turns to sorrow; celebrations disappear from the earth.

They did not ask: ‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt, who brought us through the wilderness, through a land of desert sands and rift valleys, through a land of drought and deep darkness, through a land in which no one travels, and where no one lives?’