Isaiah 24:1

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

Look, the Lord is stripping the earth bare and making it desolate. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants: 2people and priest alike, servant and master, female servant and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor. 3The earth will be stripped completely bare and will be totally plundered, for the Lord has spoken this message.

Isaiah 24:1 word by word

הִנֵּ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה בּוֹקֵ֥ק הָאָ֖רֶץ וּבֽוֹלְקָ֑הּ וְעִוָּ֣ה פָנֶ֔יהָ וְהֵפִ֖יץ יֹשְׁבֶֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Behold, the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• maketh the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• emptyבָּקַקbâqaq · to emptyH1238
• and maketh it wasteבָּלַקbâlaq · to wasteH1110
• and turnethעָוָה‛âvâh · to twistH5753
• it upside downפָּנֶהpânîym · face: surfaceH6440
• and scattereth abroadפּוּץpûts · to scatterH6327
• the inhabitantsיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427

Cross-references for Isaiah 24:1

• Isaiah 1:7Your land is desolate, your cities burned down; foreigners devour your fields right in front of you — a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.
• Isaiah 5:6I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it.
• Isaiah 6:11Then I said, “Until when, Lord?” And he replied: Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate,
• Isaiah 7:17The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria.”
• Isaiah 27:10For the fortified city will be desolate, pastures deserted and abandoned like a wilderness. Calves will graze there, and there they will spread out and strip its branches.
• Isaiah 32:13for the ground of my people growing thorns and briers, indeed, for every joyous house in the jubilant city.
• Isaiah 42:15I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn rivers into islands and dry up marshes.
• Jeremiah 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to make your land a waste. Your cities will be reduced to uninhabited ruins.
• Ezekiel 5:14“I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.
• Ezekiel 6:6Wherever you live the cities will be in ruins and the high places will be desolate, so that your altars will lie in ruins and be desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your shrines cut down, and what you have made wiped out.
• Ezekiel 12:20The inhabited cities will be destroyed, and the land will become dreadful. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
• Ezekiel 24:11Set the empty pot on its coals so that it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt inside it; its corrosion will be consumed.
• Ezekiel 35:14“‘This is what the Lord God says: While the whole world rejoices, I will make you a desolation.
• Nahum 2:10Desolation, decimation, devastation! Hearts melt, knees tremble, insides churn, every face grows pale!
• Luke 21:24They will be killed by the sword and be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
• Isaiah 29:16You have turned things around, as if the potter were the same as the clay. How can what is made say about its maker, “He didn’t make me”? How can what is formed say about the one who formed it, “He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?

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

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Lending

In the dictionaries

• Dark
• Fear
• Lift
• Sennacherib
• Shake
• Isaiah
• Salvation
• Fan

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