Isaiah 6:11
New International Version
Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,

New Living Translation
Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?” And he replied, “Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland;

English Standard Version
Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,

Berean Standard Bible
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,

King James Bible
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,

New King James Version
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate,

New American Standard Bible
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,

NASB 1995
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,

NASB 1977
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people, And the land is utterly desolate,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He said, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people, And the land is devastated to desolation,

Amplified Bible
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, And houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,

Christian Standard Bible
Then I said, “Until when, Lord? ” And he replied: Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then I said, “Until when, Lord?” And He replied: Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate,

American Standard Version
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And I said: “Until when, LORD JEHOVAH?” And he said: “Until cities will be wasted that are without an inhabitant and houses that are without men, and the land will be destroyed and will be desolate

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And I said, How long, O Lord? And he said, Until cities be deserted by reason of their not being inhabited, and the houses by reason of there being no men, and the land shall be left desolate.

Contemporary English Version
Then I asked the LORD, "How long will this last?" The LORD answered: Until their towns are destroyed and their houses are deserted, until their fields are empty,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I said: How long, O Lord? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land shall be left desolate.

English Revised Version
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste,

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I 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.

Good News Translation
I asked, "How long will it be like this, Lord?" He answered, "Until the cities are ruined and empty--until the houses are uninhabited--until the land itself is a desolate wasteland.

International Standard Version
Then I asked, "For how long, LORD?" He replied: "Until cities lie waste, without inhabitants, and houses without people; and the land becomes utterly desolate.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Then said I: 'Lord, how long?' And He answered: 'Until cities be waste without inhabitant, And houses without man, And the land become utterly waste,

Literal Standard Version
And I say, “Until when, O Lord?” And He says, “Surely until cities have been ruined without inhabitant, | And houses without man, | And the ground is ruined—a desolation,

Majority Standard Bible
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,

New American Bible
“How long, O Lord?” I asked. And he replied: Until the cities are desolate, without inhabitants, Houses, without people, and the land is a desolate waste.

NET Bible
I 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,

New Revised Standard Version
Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate;

New Heart English Bible
Then I said, "LORD, how long?" He answered, "Until cities are waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land becomes utterly waste,

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities shall be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate;

World English Bible
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” He answered, “Until cities are waste without inhabitant, houses without man, the land becomes utterly waste,

Young's Literal Translation
And I say, 'Till when, O Lord?' And He saith, 'Surely till cities have been wasted without inhabitant, And houses without man, And the ground be wasted -- a desolation,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Isaiah's Commission
10Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” 11Then 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, 12until the LORD has driven men far away and the land is utterly forsaken.…

Cross References
Leviticus 26:31
I will reduce your cities to rubble and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will refuse to smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices.

Psalm 79:5
How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

Isaiah 1:7
Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you--a desolation demolished by strangers.

Isaiah 3:8
For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they spoke and acted against the LORD, defying His glorious presence.

Isaiah 3:26
And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.

Isaiah 5:9
I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: "Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.

Isaiah 13:12
I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.


Treasury of Scripture

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,

Lord

Psalm 74:10
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

Psalm 90:13
Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

Psalm 94:3
LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

until the

Isaiah 1:7
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.

Isaiah 3:26
And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

Isaiah 24:1-12
Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof…

utterly desolate.

Jump to Previous
Cities Deserted Desolate Desolation Devastated Fields Ground Houses Inhabitant Lie Ravaged Ruined Surely Towns Unpeopled Utter Utterly Waste Wasted
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Cities Deserted Desolate Desolation Devastated Fields Ground Houses Inhabitant Lie Ravaged Ruined Surely Towns Unpeopled Utter Utterly Waste Wasted
Isaiah 6
1. Isaiah, in a vision of the Lord in his glory
5. Being terrified, has apprehensions removed
8. He offers himself, and is sent to show the obstinacy of the people
13. A remnant shall be saved














(11) Lord, how long?--The prophet asks the question which is ever on the lips of those who are brought face to face with the problems of the world, with the great mystery of evil, sin permitted to work out fresh evil as its punishment, and yet remaining evil. How long shall all this last? So a later prophet, towards the close of the seventy years of exile, cried once again, "How long?" (Daniel 8:13). So the cry, "How long, O Lord, dost thou not judge?" came from the souls beneath the altar (Revelation 6:10).

Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant.--The words answer the immediate question of the prophet within its horizon. They suggest an answer to all analogous questions. Stroke after stroke must come, judgment after judgment, till the sin has been adequately punished; but the darkness of the prospect, terrible as it is, does not exclude the glimmer of an eternal hope for the far-off future.

Verse 11. - Then said I, Lord, how long? Either, "How long am I to continue this preaching?" or, "How long is this blindness and callousness of the people to continue?" Isaiah assumes that he has not heard as yet God's final purpose; that there is some merciful intention kept in reserve, which is to take effect after the close of the period of judgment. The cities... the houses; rather, cities... houses. An entire desolation of the whole land, and extermination of its inhabitants, is not prophesied, and never took place. Nebuchadnezzar "left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen" (2 Kings 25:12; Jeremiah 39:10). Even when the great mass of these persons went into Egypt and perished there (Jeremiah 44:11-27), a certain number escaped and returned to Palestine (Jeremiah 44:14, 28). The land; rather, the ground, the soil.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then I asked,
וָאֹמַ֕ר (wā·’ō·mar)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“How long,
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

O Lord?”
אֲדֹנָ֑י (’ă·ḏō·nāy)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 136: The Lord

And He replied,
וַיֹּ֡אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Until
עַ֣ד (‘aḏ)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

cities
עָרִ֜ים (‘ā·rîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement

lie in ruins
שָׁא֨וּ (šā·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7582: To make a din or crash, crash into ruins

without
מֵאֵ֣ין (mê·’ên)
Preposition-m | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

an inhabitant,
יוֹשֵׁ֗ב (yō·wō·šêḇ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

until the houses
וּבָתִּים֙ (ū·ḇāt·tîm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1004: A house

are left unoccupied,
מֵאֵ֣ין (mê·’ên)
Preposition-m | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

and the land
וְהָאֲדָמָ֖ה (wə·hā·’ă·ḏā·māh)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 127: Ground, land

is desolate
תִּשָּׁאֶ֥ה (tiš·šā·’eh)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 7582: To make a din or crash, crash into ruins

and ravaged,
שְׁמָמָֽה׃ (šə·mā·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8077: Devastation, astonishment


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 6:11 Then I said Lord how long? He (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 6:10
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