For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever—the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks—
Parallel translations
- WEB For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;
- KJV Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
- NKJV Because the palaces will be forsaken, The bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever, A joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks—
- NASB For the palace has been neglected, the populated city abandoned. Hill and watch-tower have become caves forever, A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
- NLT The palace and the city will be deserted, and busy towns will be empty. Wild donkeys will frolic and flocks will graze in the empty forts and watchtowers
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
Palace and city will be abandoned, becoming a haunt for wild donkeys and flocks. It matters because judgment will strip away human grandeur and leave desolation.
Overview
Isaiah describes the forsaken palace and emptied city given over to wild animals. Centers of power and population become wilderness. This stark desolation marks the seriousness of God's judgment, while the word 'until' in the next verse signals that this ruin is not the final state.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 25:2Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
- Isa 24:10The city of chaos is shattered; every house is closed to entry.
- Isa 24:12The city is left in ruins; its gate is reduced to rubble.
- Isa 27:10For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
- 2 Kgs 25:9He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
- Isa 13:19–22And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Isa 6:11Then 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,
- Isa 34:11–17The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb line of destruction.
- Isa 5:9I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
- Isa 24:1–3Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—
- Ps 104:11They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
- Luke 21:20But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near.
- Rev 18:2–3And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 32:14 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.