"The Land Shall Mourn"

Hosea 4:3
3 Therefore shall the land mourn,
and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish,
with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

The sins and unfaithfulness of Israel will extend to the land itself. It will mourn; those who dwell in it will languish; animals and fish "shall be taken away." This, on a small scale, is what it appears happened on a large scale at the fall of Adam and Eve. So prophesied; so done. Israel became desolate when the people were carried off into captivity.

This is the heinousness and outcome of sin, and why we need to run from it so persistently. It affects everything, and gets its tentacles deep and strong in unexpected areas.

Flee from sin, O Christian; flee from sin as if your life depended upon it.