They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
Parallel translations
- WEB They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.
- BSB Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell.
- NKJV They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in.
- NASB ¶They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; They did not find a way to an inhabited city.
- NLT Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless.
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
Some wandered lost in a desert wilderness, finding no city to live in.
Overview
The first of four pictures of distress portrays travelers lost and homeless in a barren waste, recalling Israel's wilderness experience. It depicts the helplessness of those without refuge or settled home. Spiritually it pictures the lostness of humanity apart from God, who alone can lead the wandering to a true and lasting home in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Deut 32:10He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
- Ezek 34:6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
- Ezek 34:12As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
- Num 14:33And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
- Heb 11:38(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
- Job 12:24He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
- Gen 21:14–16And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
- Ps 107:40He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
- Deut 8:15Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
- Num 32:13And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.
- Rev 12:6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 107:4 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.