Isaiah 5:6

5:6 I will make it a wasteland;

no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ¹ 

and thorns and briers will grow there.

I will order the clouds

not to drop any rain on it.

Isaiah 32:12-14

32:12 Mourn over the field, ² 

over the delightful fields

and the fruitful vine!

32:13 Mourn ³  over the land of my people,

which is overgrown with thorns and briers,

and over all the once-happy houses ⁴ 

in the city filled with revelry. ⁵ 

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded ⁶  city is abandoned.

Hill ⁷  and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited. ⁸ 

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 4:26

4:26 I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert

and that all of the cities had been laid in ruins.

The Lord had brought this all about

because of his blazing anger. ¹⁰ 

Hebrews 6:8

6:8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; ¹¹  its fate is to be burned.

[5:6]  ¹ tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.

[32:12]  ² tc The Hebrew text has “over mourning breasts.” The reference to “breasts” would make sense in light of v. 11, which refers to the practice of women baring their breasts as a sign of sorrow (see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:585). However, one expects the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce the source or reason for mourning (see vv. 12b-13a) and the participle סֹפְדִים (sofedim, “mourning”) seems odd modifying “breasts.” The translation above assumes a twofold emendation: (1) שָׁדַיִם (shadayim, “breasts”) is emended to [ם]שָׂדַי (saday[m], “field,” a term that also appears in Isa 56:9). The final mem (ם) would be enclitic in this case, not a plural indicator. (The Hebrew noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”) forms its plural with an וֹת- [-ot] ending). (2) The plural participle סֹפְדִים is emended to סְפֹדָה (sÿfodah), a lengthened imperatival form, meaning “mourn.” For an overview of various suggestions that have been made for this difficult line, see Oswalt, 586, n. 12).

[32:13]  ³ tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[32:13]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.

[32:14]  ⁶ tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

[32:14]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

[4:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “because of the Lord, because of his blazing anger.”

[6:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “near to a curse.”