The highways lie waste, The traveling man ceases. He has broken the covenant, He has despised the cities, He regards no man.
Parallel translations
- WEB The highways are desolate. The traveling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect man.
- KJV The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
- BSB The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.
- NASB The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased, He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, He has no regard for mankind.
- NLT Your roads are deserted; no one travels them anymore. The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses. They have no respect for anyone.
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
Society has collapsed: roads are empty, treaties are broken, and human life is held in contempt by the invader.
Overview
Isaiah describes the breakdown of ordinary life under Assyrian aggression, with deserted highways and shattered covenants. Sennacherib has broken his agreement (2 Kings 18:14-17) and shows no regard for people or cities. The verse exposes the faithlessness of the proud oppressor and contrasts it with the covenant-keeping God who will act on behalf of his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Judg 5:6“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers walked through byways.
- Isa 35:8A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called The Holy Way. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for those who walk in the Way. Wicked fools will not go there.
- Isa 10:9–11Isn’t Calno like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?”
- Isa 10:29–31They have gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled.
- 1 Sam 17:26David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- 1 Sam 17:10The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!”
- 2 Kgs 18:20–21You say (but they are but vain words), ‘There is counsel and strength for war.’ Now on whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?
- Lam 1:4The ways of Zion mourn, because no one come to the solemn assembly; all her gates are desolate, her priests sigh: her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.
- 2 Kgs 18:13–17Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.
- Ps 10:5His ways are prosperous at all times. He is haughty, and your laws are far from his sight. As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.
- Isa 10:13–14For he has said, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers.
- Luke 18:2–4saying, “There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear God, and didn’t respect man.
- Isa 36:1Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all of the fortified cities of Judah, and captured them.
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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 33:8 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.