42 Bible Verses about Archaeology
Most Relevant Verses
Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these [people] keep silent, the stones will cry out [in praise]!”
“And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations [of buildings that have been laid waste];
You will be called Repairer of the Breach,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up and restore the former desolations;
And they will renew the ruined cities,
The desolations (deserted settlements) of many generations.
I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your sweet and soothing aromas [of offerings by fire].
Then you shall collect all its spoil (plunder) into the middle of its open square and burn the city and set fire to the spoil as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a ruin forever. It shall not be built again.
So Joshua burned Ai and made it a rubbish heap forever, a desolation until this day.
But Israel did not burn any of the cities that stood [walled and fortified] on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned.
Then it happened at the end of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged and devastated the land of the Ammonites, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem [with Bathsheba]. Joab struck Rabbah and overthrew it.
For we are slaves; yet our God has not abandoned us in our bondage, but has extended lovingkindness to us before the kings of Persia, to revive us to rebuild the house of our God, to repair the site of its ruins and to give us a wall [of protection] in Judah and Jerusalem.
and I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?”
With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built up [now desolate] ruins for themselves;
You have broken down all his [city] walls;
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
I am like a [mournful] vulture of the wilderness;
I am like a [desolate] owl of the wasteland.
And, behold, it was all overgrown with thorns,
And nettles were covering its surface,
And its stone wall was broken down.
When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying,
“You have a robe, you shall be our judge and ruler,
And this pile of ruins will be under your control,”
The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Damascus [capital of Aram (Syria), and Israel’s defense against Assyria].
“Listen carefully, Damascus will cease to be a city
And will become a fallen ruin.
Horrible desolation is left in the city,
And the gate is battered into ruins.
Confirming the word of His servant
And carrying out the plan of His messengers.
It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall [again] be inhabited!’
And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall [again] be built.’
And I will raise up and restore her ruins.
For the Lord will comfort Zion [in her captivity];
He will comfort all her ruins.
And He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and the voice of a melody.
Break forth, shout joyfully together,
You ruins of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
Our holy and beautiful house [the temple built by Solomon],
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And all our precious objects are in ruins.
“A lion has left his lair,
And a destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone out from his place
To desolate your land;
Your cities will be in ruins
Without an inhabitant.
“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
A haunt and dwelling place of jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Zion will be plowed like a field,
And Jerusalem will become [heaps of] ruins,
And the mountain of the house [of the Lord—Mount Moriah, on which stands the temple, shall become covered not with buildings, but] like a densely wooded height.”’
“Thus says the Lord,
‘Behold (hear this), I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
And have mercy on his dwelling places;
The city will be rebuilt on its [old, mound-like] ruin,
And the palace will stand on its rightful place.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah; and see, this day they are desolated and no one lives in them
“O you daughter who dwells in Egypt and you who dwell with her,
Prepare yourselves [with all you will need] to go into exile,
For Memphis will become desolate;
It will even be burned down and without inhabitant.
“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When I will cause an alarm of war to be heard
Against Rabbah of the Ammonites;
And it [along with the high ground on which it stands] will become a desolate heap,
And its villages will be set on fire.
Then will Israel take possession of his possessors,”
Says the Lord.
“Babylon will become a heap [of ruins], a haunt and dwelling place of jackals,
An object of horror (an astonishing desolation) and a hissing [of scorn and amazement], without inhabitants.
then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit (the place of the dead), to the people of old, and I will make you [Tyre] live in the depths of the earth, like the ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory and splendor in the land of the living.
“Son of man, those [back in Palestine] who inhabit these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was [only] one man and he took possession of the land, but we are many; the land has [most certainly] been given to us [to possess] as property.’
“I will destroy your cities
And you will become a wasteland.
Then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the deserted cities which have become prey and a mockery to the rest of the nations which surround you,
to take spoil and seize plunder, to turn your hand against the ruins which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world [Israel].’
“In that day I shall raise up and restore the fallen tabernacle (booth) of David,
And wall up its breaches [in the city walls];
I will also raise up and restore its ruins
And rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
Therefore, on account of you
Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
And the mountain of the house [of the Lord] shall become like a densely wooded hill.
“And it will come about that all who see you
Will shrink back and run from you and say,
‘Nineveh is completely ruined!
Who will grieve for her?’
Where will I seek comforters for you?”
For [this is the fate of the Philistines:] Gaza will be abandoned
And Ashkelon a desolation;
[The people of] Ashdod will be driven out at noon [in broad daylight]
And Ekron will be uprooted and destroyed.
Though [impoverished] Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins.” Thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the Wicked Territory, the people against whom the Lord is indignant forever.”
