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

The Lord is going to turn the earth into a desolate wasteland. He will mar the face of the earth and scatter the people living on it. 2The same will happen to people and priests, male slaves and masters, female slaves and masters, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, debtors and creditors. 3The earth will be completely laid waste and stripped because the Lord has spoken.

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 1:7“Your country is devastated. Your cities are burned down. Your fields are destroyed right before your eyes by foreigners. Your fields are devastated and taken over by foreigners.
• Isaiah 5:6I will make it a wasteland. It will never be pruned or hoed. Thorns and weeds will grow in it, and I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
• Isaiah 6:11I asked, “How long, O Lord?” And he replied, “Until the cities lie in ruins with no one living in them, the houses have no people, and the land is completely desolate.
• Isaiah 7:17“The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your ancestor’s family a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah. ⌞He will bring⌟ the king of Assyria.
• Isaiah 27:10The fortified city is isolated. The homestead is left deserted, abandoned like the desert. Calves will graze there. They will lie down. They will feed on the branches.
• Isaiah 32:13Mourn for my people’s land where thorns and briars will grow. Mourn for all the happy homes in a joyful city.
• Isaiah 42:15I will lay waste to mountains and hills. I will dry up all their vegetation. I will turn rivers into islands. I will dry up ponds.
• Jeremiah 4:7A lion has come out of its lair. A destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to destroy your land. Your cities will be ruined, and no one will live in them.
• Ezekiel 5:14I will turn you into a wasteland and an object of ridicule among the nations around you and in the presence of everyone who passes by you.
• Ezekiel 6:6Wherever people live, the cities will be ruined, and the worship sites will be wrecked. Your altars will be ruined and demolished. Your idols will be smashed and completely destroyed. Your incense burners will be cut down, and everything you have done will be wiped out.
• Ezekiel 12:20The cities where people live will be destroyed, and the country will become a wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
• Ezekiel 24:11Then set the empty pot on the coals so that it gets hot and its copper glows. Its impurities will melt away, and its tarnish will burn off.
• Ezekiel 35:14“ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: The whole earth will be glad when I turn you into a wasteland.
• Nahum 2:10Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, demolished. Hearts are melting. Knees are knocking. Every stomach becomes upset. Every face turns pale.
• Luke 21:24Swords will cut them down, and they will be carried off into all nations as prisoners. Nations will trample Jerusalem until the times allowed for the nations ⌞to do this⌟ are over.
• Isaiah 29:16You turn things upside down! Is the potter no better than his clay? Can something that has been made say about its maker, “He didn’t make me”? Can a piece of pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

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