On that day their strong cities will be like abandoned places in the forest, Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel; And the land will be a desolation.
Parallel translations
- WEB In that day, their strong cities will be like the forsaken places in the woods and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it will be a desolation.
- KJV In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.
- BSB In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken thickets and summits, abandoned to the Israelites and to utter desolation.
- NKJV In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough And an uppermost branch, Which they left because of the children of Israel; And there will be desolation.
- NLT Their largest cities will be like a deserted forest, like the land the Hivites and Amorites abandoned when the Israelites came here so long ago. It will be utterly desolate.
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
Israel's strong cities will become forsaken and desolate, like the abandoned places of the earlier inhabitants. Their fortified security crumbles into ruin.
Overview
The once-mighty cities are left deserted, recalling the ruins of the Canaanite peoples driven out before Israel. What seemed secure is reduced to desolation. The reversal warns that earthly strongholds offer no protection when a people forsakes the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Amos 3:11–15Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.”
- Isa 27:10For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. The calf will feed there, and there he will lie down, and consume its branches.
- Amos 7:9The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
- Mic 5:11I will cut off the cities of your land, and will tear down all your strongholds.
- Isa 7:16–20For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.
- Isa 9:9–12All the people will know, including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart,
- Isa 28:1–4Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!
- Mic 6:16For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of Ahab’s house. You walk in their counsels, that I may make you a ruin, and her inhabitants a hissing; And you will bear the reproach of my people.”
- Hos 10:14Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.
- Hos 13:15–16Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.
- Isa 24:1–12Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants.
- Mic 7:13Yet the land will be desolate because of those who dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
- Isa 17:4–5“It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
- Isa 6:11–13Then I said, “Lord, how long?” He answered, “Until cities are waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land becomes utterly waste,
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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 17:9 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
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