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 ready to devastate the earth and leave it in ruins; he will mar its surface and scatter its inhabitants. 2Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people, the master as well as the servant, the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, the seller as well as the buyer, the borrower as well as the lender, the creditor as well as the debtor. 3The earth will be completely devastated and thoroughly ransacked. For the Lord has decreed this judgment.

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 devastated, your cities burned with fire. Right before your eyes your crops are being destroyed by foreign invaders. They leave behind devastation and destruction.
• Isaiah 5:6I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.
• Isaiah 6:11I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated,
• Isaiah 7:17The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah – the king of Assyria!”
• Isaiah 27:10For the fortified city is left alone; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the desert. Calves graze there; they lie down there and eat its branches bare.
• Isaiah 32:13Mourn over the land of my people, which is overgrown with thorns and briers, and over all the once-happy houses in the city filled with revelry.
• Isaiah 42:15I will make the trees on the mountains and hills wither up; I will dry up all their vegetation. I will turn streams into islands, and dry up pools of water.
• Jeremiah 4:7Like a lion that has come up from its lair the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base. He is coming out to lay your land waste. Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.
• Ezekiel 5:14“I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.
• Ezekiel 6:6In all your dwellings, the cities will be laid waste and the high places ruined so that your altars will be laid waste and ruined, your idols will be shattered and demolished, your incense altars will be broken down, and your works wiped out.
• Ezekiel 12:20The inhabited towns will be left in ruins and the land will be devastated. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
• Ezekiel 24:11Set the empty pot on the coals, until it becomes hot and its copper glows, until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot is consumed.
• Ezekiel 35:14This is what the sovereign Lord says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will turn you into a desolation.
• Nahum 2:10Destruction, devastation, and desolation! Their hearts faint, their knees tremble, each stomach churns, each face turns pale!
• Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away as captives among all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
• Isaiah 29:16Your thinking is perverse! Should the potter be regarded as clay? Should the thing made say about its maker, “He didn’t make me”? Or should the 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