I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, and before his fierce anger.

I looked, and behold Carmel was a wilderness: and all its cities were destroyed at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of the wrath of his indignation.

I have looked, and lo, The fruitful place is a wilderness, And all its cities have been broken down, Because of Jehovah, Because of the fierceness of His anger.

Looking, I saw that the fertile field was a waste, and all its towns were broken down before the Lord and before his burning wrath.

I saw, and look, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD; before his fierce anger they were destroyed.

I gazed, and behold, Carmel was a desert, and all its cities were destroyed before the face of the Lord, and before the face of the wrath of his fury."

Vidi, et ecce regio foecunda (vel, carmelus) desertum, et omnes urbes ejus destructae a facie Jehovae, et a facie excandescentiae irae ejus.

The fruitful place - The Carmel Jeremiah 2:7, where the population had been most dense, and the labors of the farmer most richly rewarded, has become the wilderness.
At the presence - i. e., because of, at the command of Yahweh, and because of His anger.

I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,.... Or, "I beheld, and, lo, Carmel was a wilderness"; which was a particular part of the land of Israel, and was very fertile, and abounded in pastures and fruit trees, and yet this, as the rest, became desolate as a wilderness; see Isaiah 32:15 though it may be put for the whole land, which was very fruitful; and so the Targum,
"I saw, and, lo, the land of Israel, which was planted as Carmel, was turned to be as a wilderness:''
and all the cities thereof; not of Carmel only, but of the whole land:
were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger; for though this was done by the Chaldeans, yet it was by the will and appointment of God, and as a token of his fierce anger against the people of the Jews, for their sins and transgressions. Jarchi cites a Midrash Agadah, or an allegorical exposition of this place, which interprets the "mountains", the Jewish fathers; the "hills", the mothers, and their merits; "no man", the worthiness of Moses, who was meeker than any man; and "Carmel", Elijah; without any manner of foundation.

fruitful place--Hebrew, Carmel.
a wilderness--Hebrew, "the wilderness," in contrast to "the fruitful place"; the great desert, where Carmel was, there is now the desert of Arabia [MAURER].
cities--in contrast to the fruitful place or field.