Isaiah 1:7
New International Version
Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.

New Living Translation
Your country lies in ruins, and your towns are burned. Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes and destroy everything they see.

English Standard Version
Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.

Berean Standard Bible
Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.

King James Bible
Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

New King James Version
Your country is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

New American Standard Bible
Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire; As for your fields, strangers are devouring them in front of you; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.

NASB 1995
Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields— strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.

NASB 1977
Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.

Legacy Standard Bible
Your land is desolate; Your cities are burned with fire; Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

Amplified Bible
Your land lies desolate [because of your disobedience], Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your very presence; It is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

Christian Standard Bible
Your land is desolate, your cities burned down; foreigners devour your fields right in front of you — a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire; foreigners devour your fields before your very eyes— a desolation demolished by foreigners.

American Standard Version
Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

Contemporary English Version
Your country lies in ruins; your towns are in ashes. Foreigners and strangers take and destroy your land while you watch.

English Revised Version
Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"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.

Good News Translation
Your country has been devastated, and your cities have been burned to the ground. While you look on, foreigners take over your land and bring everything to ruin.

International Standard Version
"Your country lies desolate; your cities have been incinerated. Before your very eyes, foreigners are devouring your land— they've brought devastation on it, while the land is overthrown by foreigners.

Majority Standard Bible
Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you?a desolation demolished by strangers.

NET Bible
Your 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.

New Heart English Bible
Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

Webster's Bible Translation
Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

World English Bible
Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Your land [is] a desolation, your cities burned with fire, "" Your ground—strangers are consuming it before you, "" And a desolation as overthrown by strangers!

Young's Literal Translation
Your land is a desolation, your cities burnt with fire, Your ground, before you strangers are consuming it, And a desolation as overthrown by strangers!

Smith's Literal Translation
Your land made desolate, your cities burnt with fire, your land before your strangers eating it up, and made desolate, as the overthrow of strangers.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Your land is desolate. Your cities have been set ablaze. Foreigners devour your countryside in your sight, and it will become desolate, as if devastated by enemies.

New American Bible
Your country is waste, your cities burnt with fire; Your land—before your eyes strangers devour it, a waste, like the devastation of Sodom.

New Revised Standard Version
Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence aliens devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Your land is desolate and your cities burn in fire. Foreigners consume your land near you, and it is a desolation like the ruin of foreigners
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Your country is desolate; Your cities are burned with fire; Your land, strangers devour it in your presence, And it is desolate, as overthrown by floods.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is made desolate, overthrown by strange nations.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judah's Rebellion
6From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil. 7Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you— a desolation demolished by strangers. 8And the Daughter of Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a city besieged.…

Cross References
Jeremiah 4:7
A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.

Lamentations 1:1-3
How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave. / She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. / Judah has gone into exile under affliction and harsh slavery; she dwells among the nations but finds no place to rest. All her pursuers have overtaken her in the midst of her distress.

Hosea 5:9
Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.

Micah 3:12
Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

Deuteronomy 28:51-52
They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish. / They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you.

2 Kings 17:5-6
Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years. / In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

Jeremiah 5:17
They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”

Ezekiel 36:3-4
therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers, / therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become a spoil and a mockery to the rest of the nations around you.

Joel 1:6-7
For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness. / It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.

Amos 5:11
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

Zephaniah 1:13
Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.

Matthew 23:37-38
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! / Look, your house is left to you desolate.

Luke 21:20-24
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near. / Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city. / For these are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. ...

Mark 13:14-19
So when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. / Let no one on the housetop go back inside to retrieve anything from his house. / And let no one in the field return for his cloak. ...

Romans 9:29
It is just as Isaiah foretold: “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.”


Treasury of Scripture

Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

country

Isaiah 5:5,6,9
And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: …

Isaiah 6:11
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

Isaiah 24:10-12
The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in…

burned

Isaiah 9:5
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

Isaiah 34:9
And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

Jeremiah 2:15
The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.

strangers

Isaiah 5:17
Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

Deuteronomy 28:33,43,48-52
The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: …

Lamentations 5:1
Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.

overthrown by strangers.

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Aliens Burned Burnt Cities Consuming Country Desolate Desolation Devour Devouring Eyes Fields Fire Floods Foreigners Ground Lands Overcome Overthrown Overturned Presence Right rs Strange Strangers Stripped Towns Waste
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Aliens Burned Burnt Cities Consuming Country Desolate Desolation Devour Devouring Eyes Fields Fire Floods Foreigners Ground Lands Overcome Overthrown Overturned Presence Right rs Strange Strangers Stripped Towns Waste
Isaiah 1
1. Isaiah complains of Judah for her rebellion
5. He laments her judgments
10. He upbraids their whole service
16. He exhorts to repentance, with promises and threats
21. Bewailing their wickedness, he denounces God's judgments
25. He promises grace
28. And threatens destruction to the wicked














Your land
The phrase "your land" refers to the physical territory of Judah and Israel, which was given to the Israelites by God as part of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Hebrew word for "land" is "eretz," which can mean earth, land, or country. In this context, it emphasizes the divine gift and the responsibility that comes with it. The land was meant to be a place of blessing and prosperity, but due to the people's disobedience, it has become a place of desolation.

is desolate
The word "desolate" in Hebrew is "shamem," which means to be appalled, devastated, or laid waste. This term conveys a sense of utter ruin and abandonment. Historically, this desolation can be linked to the invasions and destruction brought by foreign powers as a consequence of Israel's unfaithfulness to God. The desolation serves as a physical manifestation of the spiritual barrenness that has taken hold of the people.

your cities
"Your cities" refers to the urban centers of Judah and Israel, which were once bustling with life and activity. Cities in ancient times were centers of culture, commerce, and governance. The mention of cities highlights the widespread impact of the judgment, affecting not just rural areas but also the heart of societal life.

are burned with fire
The phrase "are burned with fire" indicates complete destruction and purification through judgment. Fire in the Bible often symbolizes God's judgment and cleansing power. Historically, this could refer to the burning of cities by invading armies, a common practice in ancient warfare. This imagery underscores the severity of the consequences of turning away from God.

your fields
"Your fields" refers to the agricultural lands that were vital for the sustenance and economy of the nation. The Hebrew word "sadeh" denotes open fields or countryside. Agriculture was the backbone of ancient Israelite society, and the devastation of the fields would lead to famine and economic collapse, further illustrating the dire state of the nation.

are being stripped by foreigners
The phrase "are being stripped by foreigners" suggests ongoing plundering and exploitation by invading forces. The Hebrew word "zarim" for "foreigners" implies those who are outside the covenant community, often seen as instruments of God's judgment. This reflects the loss of sovereignty and the humiliation of being subject to foreign powers.

right before you
"Right before you" emphasizes the immediacy and visibility of the devastation. The people are witnesses to their own downfall, unable to escape the consequences of their actions. This phrase serves as a call to awareness and repentance, urging the people to recognize the reality of their situation and turn back to God.

laid waste as when overthrown by strangers
The phrase "laid waste as when overthrown by strangers" paints a picture of complete and utter destruction, akin to what happens when a land is conquered by foreign invaders. The Hebrew word "mahpekah" for "overthrown" suggests a turning upside down or a complete reversal of fortune. This serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of forsaking God's covenant, urging the people to return to Him for restoration and healing.

(7) Your country is desolate . . .--It is natural to take the words as describing the actual state of things when the prophet wrote. There had been such invasions in the days of Ahaz, in which Israel and Syria (Isaiah 7:1), Edom and the Philistines, had been conspicuous (2Chronicles 28:17-18); and the reign of Hezekiah already had witnessed that of Sargon (Isaiah 20:1).

The Hebrew has no copulative verb, but joins subject and predicate together with the emphasis of abruptness: Your land--a desolation, and so on. The repetition of the word "strangers" is characteristic of Isaiah's style.

As overthrown by strangers.--Conjectural readings give (1) "as the overthrow of Sodom;" (2) "as the overthrow of (i.e., wrought by) a rain-storm." The word rendered "overthrown" is elsewhere applied only to the destruction of the cities of the plain (Deuteronomy 29:23; Amos 4:11; Jeremiah 49:18). So taken, the clause prepares the way for the fuller comparison of Isaiah 1:9-10. . . .

Verse 7. - Your country is desolate. Metaphor is now dropped, and the prophet describes in strong but simple language the judgments of God, which have already followed the sins of the nation. First of all, their land is "a desolation." It has been recently ravaged by an enemy; the towns have been burnt, the crops devoured. There is nothing to determine who the enemy had been. Knobel supposes the Edomites and Philistines, who invaded Judaea in the time of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:17, 18), to be intended; Rosenmüller suggests the Israelites under Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25:21-24); while Mr. Cheyne supposes the devastation to have been wrought by the Assyrians under Sargon. If we could be assured that the prophecies of Isaiah are arranged in chronological order, we should either have to accept Rosenmüller's view, or to suppose some invasion of Judaea to have taken place in the later years of Uzziah of which no mention is made by the authors of Kings and Chronicles; but it is impossible to be certain on what principle Isaiah's prophecies are arranged. The mention of "strangers" is in favor of the enemy having been actual foreigners, and therefore not the Israelites. Your cities are burned with fire. The common fate of cities taken in war. In the Assyrian sculptures we often see the torch applied to them. Your land. Mr. Cheyne translates, "your tillage." Adamah means "soil" or "ground" generally; but here no doubt denotes the ground which bore crops. Strangers devour it; i.e. "foreigners" others than the sons of the soil - not necessarily persons of a different race, but still probably such persons. In your presence; before your eyes, as you look on - an aggravation of the affliction. It is desolate, as overthrown by strangers; literally, it is a desolation, like an overthrow by strangers. The near approach to repetition displeases moderns, who conjecture

(1) that zarim, strangers, has another meaning, and should be here translated by "inundation" or "deluge" (Aben Ezra, Michaelis, Lowth); or

(2) that it is a wrong reading, and should Be altered into sodim, a word not very different (Ewald, Cheyne). But "the return to words whose sounds are yet lingering in the ear" is characteristic of ancient writing, and a favorite practice of Isaiah's (Kay). The translation of the Authorized Version may therefore stand.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Your land
אַרְצְכֶ֣ם (’ar·ṣə·ḵem)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 776: Earth, land

is desolate,
שְׁמָמָ֔ה (šə·mā·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8077: Devastation, astonishment

your cities
עָרֵיכֶ֖ם (‘ā·rê·ḵem)
Noun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement

[are] burned
שְׂרֻפ֣וֹת (śə·ru·p̄ō·wṯ)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine plural
Strong's 8313: To be, on fire

with fire;
אֵ֑שׁ (’êš)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 784: A fire

foreigners
זָרִים֙ (zā·rîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 2114: To turn aside, to be a, foreigner, strange, profane, to commit adultery

devour
אֹכְלִ֣ים (’ō·ḵə·lîm)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 398: To eat

your fields
אַדְמַתְכֶ֗ם (’aḏ·maṯ·ḵem)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 127: Ground, land

before you --
לְנֶגְדְּכֶם֙ (lə·neḡ·də·ḵem)
Preposition-l | second person masculine plural
Strong's 5048: A front, part opposite, a counterpart, mate, over against, before

a desolation
וּשְׁמָמָ֖ה (ū·šə·mā·māh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8077: Devastation, astonishment

demolished
כְּמַהְפֵּכַ֥ת (kə·mah·pê·ḵaṯ)
Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 4114: A destruction

by strangers.
זָרִֽים׃ (zā·rîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 2114: To turn aside, to be a, foreigner, strange, profane, to commit adultery


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 1:7 Your country is desolate (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 1:6
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