Berean Standard Bible
Isaiah 24:1
1Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—
Isaiah 24:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
- New International Version (NIV)See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants—
- English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants.
Context of Isaiah 24:1
Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants— 2people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor. 3The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered. For the LORD has spoken this word.
Read all of Isaiah 24Isaiah 24:1 word by word
הִנֵּ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה בּוֹקֵ֥ק הָאָ֖רֶץ וּבֽוֹלְקָ֑הּ וְעִוָּ֣ה פָנֶ֔יהָ וְהֵפִ֖יץ יֹשְׁבֶֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear
- Beholdהִנֵּהhinnêh · beholdH2009
- the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- lays wasteבָּקַקbâqaq · to emptyH1238
- the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- and leaves it in ruinsבָּלַקbâlaq · to wasteH1110
- He will twistעָוָה‛âvâh · to twistH5753
- its surfaceפָּנֶהpânîym · face: surfaceH6440
- and scatterפּוּץpûts · to scatterH6327
- its inhabitantsיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
Cross-references for Isaiah 24:1
- Isaiah 1:7Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you— a desolation demolished by strangers.
- Isaiah 5:6I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
- Isaiah 6:11Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Isaiah 7:17The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”
- Isaiah 27:10For the fortified city lies deserted— a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
- Isaiah 32:13and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers— even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.
- Isaiah 42:15I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.
- Jeremiah 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.
- Ezekiel 5:14I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
- Ezekiel 6:6Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.
- Ezekiel 12:20The inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
- Ezekiel 24:11Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed.
- Ezekiel 35:14This is what the Lord GOD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.
- Nahum 2:10She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Isaiah 29:16You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?
Commentaries on Isaiah 24:1
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Maketh the earth empty - That is, will depopulate it, or take away its inhabitants, and its wealth. The word earth‘ here (ארץ 'ārets ) is used evidently not to denote the whole world, but the land to which the prophet particularly refers - the land of Judea. It should have been translated the land (see Joel 1:2). It is possible, however, that the word here may be intended to include so much of the nations that surrounded Palestine as were allied with it…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The desolation of the land. (Is. 24:1-12) A few shall be preserved. (Is. 24:13-15) God's kingdom advanced by his judgments. (Is. 24:16-23) Verses 1-12 All whose treasures and happiness are laid up on earth, will soon be brought to want and misery. It is good to apply to ourselves what the Scripture says of the vanity and vexation of spirit which attend all things here below. Sin has turned the earth upside down; the earth is become quite different to man…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins: There is a play here on the Hebrew words baqaq (lays waste) and balaq (leaves it in ruins). The devastation will start with Judah and spread to the entire world (see 1 Peter 4:17). All the earth will face destruction, including its people and political systems.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-23The four chapters (the twenty-fourth through the twenty-seventh) form one continuous poetical prophecy: descriptive of the dispersion and successive calamities of the Jews (Is 24:1-12); the preaching of the Gospel by the first Hebrew converts throughout the world (Is 24:13-16); the judgments on the adversaries of the Church and its final triumph (Is 24:16-23); thanksgiving for the overthrow of the apostate faction (Is 25:1-12), and establishment of the…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 24:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 24
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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