He said: "Yahweh will roar from Zion, And utter his voice from Jerusalem; And the pastures of the shepherds will mourn, And the top of Carmel will wither."
"And the top of Carmel shall wither ..." Carmel was noted for remaining productive even in times of drought, the name itself meaning "the orchard, or fertile land."[13]  Even the great drouth in the days of Elijah did not wither Carmel; and, thus the meaning of the whole passage here is that utter desolation shall overcome the land, even places like Carmel. Mount Carmel was the scene of Elijah's contest with the prophets of Baal and consists of a bold mountain forming the terminus of the Samaritan range and dropping off abruptly into the sea.  Whatever the ancient excellence of the place, it has long ago disappeared.  "It is steep and lofty where it overhangs the Mediterranean above Haifa."[14]