Isaiah 32:14

12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

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
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—
KJV
Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
WEB
For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,
ASV
For the palace shall be forsaken; the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
DARBY
For the palace shall be deserted, the multitude of the city shall be forsaken; hill and watchtower shall be caves for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
BLB
For the palace will be forsaken, the clamor of the city will be forsaken, [and] the citadel and watchtower will become as dens even to forever—the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks—
ÅB
For palasset er forlatt, svermen i byen er borte; haug[^1] og vakttårn er blitt til huler for evige tider, til fryd for villesler, til beite for buskap -
OTB
For palasset vil bli forlatt, den travle byen øde; høyde og vakttårn vil bli huler for alltid, en glede for ville esler, en beitemark for flokker,
B1930
For palasset er forlatt, svermen i byen er borte; haug og vakttårn er blitt til huler for evige tider, til fryd for villesler, til beite for buskap - / < Ofel-haugen i Jerusalem; 2KR 27, 3. NEH 3, 26 fg.>

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Isaiah 24:12

    In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 27:10

    Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 25:2

    For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 24:10

    The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 104:11

    They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.

    Read in context
  • Luke 21:24

    And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 34:11–17

    But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 24:1–3

    Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

    Read in context