Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
Parallel translations
- WEB Thorns and briers will come up on my people’s land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
- BSB and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.
- NKJV On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers, Yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city;
- NASB For the land of my people in which thorns and briars will come up; Indeed, for all the joyful houses and for the jubilant city.
- NLT For your land will be overgrown with thorns and briers. Your joyful homes and happy towns will be gone.
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
Thorns and briers will overrun the land, even the once-joyous houses and city. It matters because sin's judgment turns flourishing places into wasteland.
Overview
The prophet foresees the land overgrown with thorns, the former places of joy reduced to ruin. The reversal of fruitfulness into desolation depicts the consequence of judgment. Such imagery recalls the curse on creation and heightens longing for the restoration only God can bring.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 22:2Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.
- Hos 9:6For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.
- Isa 7:23And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
- Isa 34:13And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
- Isa 22:12–13And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
- Isa 5:6And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
- Jer 39:8And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.
- Ps 107:34A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
- Isa 6:11Then 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,
- Rev 18:7–8How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
- Hos 10:8The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
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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 32:13 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.