19 Bible Verses about Deserts

But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full [of] howling creatures, and the daughters of ostriches will live there, and goats will dance there.

I am like an owl of [the] wilderness; I am like a little owl of [the] ruins.

Then the entire community of the {Israelites} came [to] the desert of Zin on the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; Miriam died and was buried there.

So Joab and Abishai pursued Abner {when} the sun went down. And they came to the hill [country] of Ammah, which [is] {before Giah} [on] the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

" 'And I will set your boundary from the {Red Sea} and up to the sea of the Philistines and from [the] desert up to the river, because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you.

They set out from Rephidim, and they came to the desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

Then they got up and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men [were] in the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah, to the south of Jeshimon.

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Get up and go toward the south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert [road].)

And [when they] returned, the apostles described to him all that they had done. And he took them along [and] withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida.

And they went away in the boat to an isolated place by themselves.

And the child kept growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

And [when it] was day, he departed [and] went to an isolated place. And the crowds were seeking him, and came to him and were trying to prevent him from departing from them.

Who [is] this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother {conceived you}; there she who was in labor gave birth to you.

What [is] this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?

So he rebuked {the Red Sea}, and it dried up, and he led them through the deep as [through] a desert.

He turns rivers into a wilderness and springs of water into thirsty ground,

He turns a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water.

Yahweh will change the rain of your land [to] fine dust and [to] sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you {until you are destroyed}.

{a wind too strong for} these will come for me, now also I speak judgments against them." Look, he comes up like the clouds, and his chariots [are] like the whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles, woe to us, for we are devastated.

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trampled down my plot of land. They have made {my pleasant field} like the desert of desolation. They have made it a desolation. Desolate, it mourns to me. All the land is made desolate, but there is no person taking [it] to heart. Upon all [the] barren heights in the desert destroyers have come, for [the] sword of Yahweh devours, from [one] end of [the] land to the [other] end of the land, there is no peace for all flesh. read more.
They have sown wheat and they have reaped thorns. They are exhausted, they do not profit. And they will be ashamed of your produce, because of {the burning anger} of Yahweh."

your mother will be very ashamed. [She who] gave birth [to] you will be humiliated. Look, [she will be the] least of [the] nations, a desert, dry land, and wilderness.

And Pharaoh will say of the {Israelites}, 'They are wandering around in the land. The desert has closed in on them.'

[I have been] on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from [my own] people, in dangers from the Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers because of false brothers,

He said, "Please, do not abandon us because you know our encampment in the desert, and {you should be our guide}.

He found him in a desert land, and in a howling, desert wasteland; he {encircled him}, he cared for him, he protected him like the {apple} of his eye.

"Lift up your eyes at [the] barren heights, and see where you have not been ravished. Beside the roads you sat for them like an Arab in the desert, and you have defiled [the] land with your fornication and with your wickedness.

Our pursuers were swifter than [the] eagles of [the] heavens; they chased us on the mountains, they have set an ambush for us in the desert.

Then Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave [it] to Hagar, putting [it] on her shoulder. And he sent her away with the child, and she went, wandering about in the wilderness, in Beersheba.

Then he became afraid, got up, and {fled for his life}. He came [to] Beersheba which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went into the wilderness one day's journey, and he went and sat under a certain broom tree. Then {he asked Yahweh that he might die}, and he said, "It is enough now, Yahweh; take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors."

the one leading you in the great and terrible desert [infested] with {dangerous} snakes and scorpions and parched ground, where there is no water, [and] the one bringing out water for you from flint rock,

And all the community of the {Israelites} set out from the desert of Sin for their journeys according to the command of Yahweh, and they camped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.

of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about on deserts and mountains and in caves and in holes in the ground.

David remained in the wilderness, in the strongholds, and in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him {continually}, but God did not give him into his hand

And he lived in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

And the {Israelites} set out for their journey from the desert of Sinai, and the cloud dwelled in the desert of Paran.

Look, I [am] putting in him a spirit. He will hear a rumor and return to his land. Then I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land." '"

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "{A hot wind from the barren heights} in the desert, {in the direction of} the daughter of my people, not to winnow and not to cleanse,

Then the entire community of the {Israelites} came [to] the desert of Zin on the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; Miriam died and was buried there.

because you rebelled against my word in the desert of Zin when the community quarreled regarding my holiness at the waters." (These [are] the waters of Meribah-Kadesh [in] the desert of Zin.)

"Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh, "I remember [concerning] you the loyal love of your childhood, the love of your betrothal-time, your going after me in the desert, in [the] land not sown.

Why have you brought us from Egypt to bring us to this bad place? It is not a place of seed or figs or vines or pomegranate trees, and there is not water to drink."

I will {put} [the] cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive oil tree in the wilderness; I will set [the] cypress, elm, and box tree together in the desert

Wilderness and dry land shall be glad, and desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus.

Now these [are] the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah--he [is] Anah who found the hot springs in the desert while he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father.

And Moses was a shepherd with the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the west [of] the desert, and he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.

Every man in distress and every man who had a creditor and every embittered man gathered to him, and he became {their commander}. Now there [were] about four hundred men with him.

Then you are not the Egyptian who before these days raised a revolt and led out into the wilderness the four thousand men of the Assassins?"

Now [when it] was evening, the disciples came to him saying, "The place is desolate and the hour {is late}. Release the crowds so that they can go away into the villages [and] purchase food for themselves."

And he said to them, "You yourselves come privately to an isolated place and rest for a short time." For those [who were] coming and going were many, and they did not even have time to eat.

And he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full [of] howling creatures, and the daughters of ostriches will live there, and goats will dance there.

So they gathered [them], and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

And they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go [on] a three-day journey into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he strike us with plague or with sword."

Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they are coming up the ascent of Ziz. And you will find them at the end of the valley facing the desert of Jeruel.

David remained in the wilderness, in the strongholds, and in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him {continually}, but God did not give him into his hand When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.

Then they got up and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men [were] in the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah, to the south of Jeshimon. And Saul and his men went to seek [him], and they told David, so he went down [to] the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard [this], he pursued David [into] the wilderness of Maon.

He found him in a desert land, and in a howling, desert wasteland; he {encircled him}, he cared for him, he protected him like the {apple} of his eye.

"So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon; [I sent] terms of peace, {saying},

"Then we set out from Horeb, and we went [through] the whole [of] that great and terrible desert that you saw [on] the way [to] the hill country of the Amorites as Yahweh our God had commanded us, and [so] we came up to Kadesh Barnea.

And God was with the boy, and he grew and lived in the wilderness. And he became {an expert with a bow}. And he lived in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

the one leading you in the great and terrible desert [infested] with {dangerous} snakes and scorpions and parched ground, where there is no water, [and] the one bringing out water for you from flint rock,

Why is my pain endless, and my wound incurable? It refuses to become healed. Truly you are to me like a deceitful [brook], waters [that] are not trustworthy.

Then Yahweh said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. Go and anoint Hazael as king over Aram;

When Saul returned from [pursuing the] Philistines, they told him, "Look, David [is] in the wilderness of En Gedi."

So Joab and Abishai pursued Abner {when} the sun went down. And they came to the hill [country] of Ammah, which [is] {before Giah} [on] the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

In the third month after the {Israelites} went out from the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the Sinai desert. They set out from Rephidim, and they came to the desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

O generation, you see the word of Yahweh. Have I been a desert to Israel? Or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, 'We roam about freely, we will not come again to you'?

And he will be like a juniper in the wilderness, and he will not see when good comes, and he will dwell [in the] parched places in the desert, [in] a land of salt flats, where no one lives.

" 'And I will set your boundary from the {Red Sea} and up to the sea of the Philistines and from [the] desert up to the river, because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you.

So God led the people around [by] the way of the desert [to] the {Red Sea}, and the {Israelites} went up in battle array from the land of Egypt.

Their northern border began at the Jordan and went up to the slope of Jericho on [the] north and continued into the hill country to the west; {it ends} at the wilderness of Beth Aven.

And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur.

And they did not say, 'Where [is] Yahweh, the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt, the one who led us in the desert, in a land of desert plains and gorges, in a land of dryness and deep darkness, in a land {that no one passes through}, and no human lives there?'

Look! I [am] about to do a new thing! Now it sprouts! Do you not perceive it? Indeed, I will {make} a way in the wilderness, rivers in [the] desert.

And I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland from the desert to Riblah in all of their dwellings, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh." '"

The oracle of [the] wilderness of [the] sea: As storm winds passing over in the Negev, {it comes} from [the] desert, from a frightful land.

Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Judean wilderness

Then he said, "Which way shall we go up?" And he answered, "By way of the wilderness of Edom."

And they set out from Elim, and all the community of the {Israelites} came to the desert of Sin, which [is] between Elim {and Sinai}, in the fifteenth day of the second month of their going out from the land of Egypt.

The voice of Yahweh shakes [the] wilderness. Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Get up and go toward the south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert [road].)

Lest I strip her naked and expose her like the day when she was born; I will make her like the desert and turn her into parched land; I will kill her with thirst.

An oracle of the animals of the Negev: Through a land of trouble and distress, [of] lioness and lion, {among} them [are] snake and flying serpent; they carry their wealth on [the] {backs} of male donkeys and their treasures on [the] humps of camels, to a people [that] cannot profit [them].

the one leading you in the great and terrible desert [infested] with {dangerous} snakes and scorpions and parched ground, where there is no water, [and] the one bringing out water for you from flint rock,