The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
Parallel translations
- WEB The cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.
- KJV The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
- NKJV The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
- NASB “The cities of Aroer are abandoned; They will be for herds to lie down in, And there will be no one to frighten them.
- NLT The towns of Aroer will be deserted. Flocks will graze in the streets and lie down undisturbed, with no one to chase them away.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The cities of Aroer are abandoned, left to flocks that lie down undisturbed. Once-bustling towns become quiet pasture land.
Overview
The depopulated cities become grazing ground where animals rest in peace, a picture of desolation. Human pride and activity give way to silence and emptiness. The image vividly conveys how thoroughly judgment empties a land of its people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 7:33The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.
- Ezek 25:5I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’
- Zeph 2:6So the seacoast will become a land of pastures, with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.
- Deut 2:36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.
- Mic 4:4And each man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, with no one to frighten him. For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.
- Num 32:34And the Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
- Jer 48:19Stand by the road and watch, O dweller of Aroer! Ask the man fleeing or the woman escaping, ‘What has happened?’
- Deut 3:12So at that time we took possession of this land. To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the land beyond Aroer along the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead, along with its cities.
- Isa 7:23–25And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
- Isa 7:21On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,
- Isa 5:17Lambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
- Josh 13:16The territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, to the whole plateau beyond Medeba,
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 17:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.