Isaiah 32:13-14

32:13 Mourn ¹  over the land of my people,

which is overgrown with thorns and briers,

and over all the once-happy houses ² 

in the city filled with revelry. ³ 

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded ⁴  city is abandoned.

Hill ⁵  and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited. ⁶ 

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there. ⁷ 

[32:13]  ¹ tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[32:13]  ² tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.

[32:13]  ³ sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.

[32:14]  ⁴ tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

[32:14]  ⁵ tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

[32:14]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.

[32:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”