Isaiah 32:13
11 Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines,
and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers— even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.
14 For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever— the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks—
15 until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers— even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.
- KJV
- Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
- WEB
- Thorns and briers will come up on my people’s land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
- ASV
- Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
- DARBY
- Upon the land of my people shall come up thistles [and] briars, yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
- BLB
- over the land of my people [where] thorns and briers come up; yes, over all the houses of joy [in] the jubilant city.
- ÅB
- På mitt folks jord skyter torner og tistler opp, ja over alle gledens hus i den jublende by.
- OTB
- og for landet til mitt folk, overgrodd med torner og tistler— ja, sørg for alle de glade husene og den jubelende byen.
- B1930
- På mitt folks jord skyter torner og tistler op, ja over alle gledens hus i den jublende by.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Hosea 9:6
For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents.
Read in contextIsaiah 22:2
O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle.
Read in contextIsaiah 34:13
Her towers will be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She will become a haunt for jackals, an abode for ostriches.
Read in contextIsaiah 7:23
And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
Read in contextRevelation 18:7–8
As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’
Read in contextHosea 10:8
The high places of Aven will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
Read in contextIsaiah 6:11
Then 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,
Read in contextIsaiah 22:12–13
On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
Read in context