Jeremiah 4:23

“I looked at the land and saw ¹  that it was an empty wasteland. ²  I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.

biblegateway Jer 4:23

I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.

biblegateway Jer 4:23

I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light.

biblegateway Jer 4:23

I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.

biblegateway Jer 4:23

I looked at the earth--it was back to pre-Genesis chaos and emptiness. I looked at the skies, and not a star to be seen.

SABDAweb Jer 4:23

Looking at the earth, I saw that it was waste and without form; and to the heavens, that they had no light.

bibleoremus Jer 4:23

I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.

biblegateway Jer 4:23

I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light.

biblegateway Jer 4:23

“I looked at the land and saw ¹  that it was an empty wasteland. ²  I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.

¹ tn Heb “I looked at the land and behold...” This indicates the visionary character of Jeremiah’s description of the future condition of the land of Israel.

² tn Heb “formless and empty.” This is a case of hendiadys (two nouns joined by “and” both describe the same thing): one noun retains its full nominal force, the other functions as an adjective. The words תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu vavohu) allude to Gen 1:2, hyperbolically picturing a reversal of creation and return to the original precreation chaos.