'Desert' in the Bible

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that He does not discipline us with pestilence or with the sword.”

From there they journeyed on and camped on the other side of [the river] Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the boundary of the Amorites; for [the river] Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

The well which the leaders dug,Which the nobles of the people hollowed outWith the scepter and with their staffs.”And from the wilderness Israel journeyed to Mattanah,

and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down on the wasteland.

So Balak brought Balaam to the top of [Mount] Peor, that overlooks the wasteland.

When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as he had done each time before [superstitiously] to seek omens and signs [in the natural world], but he set his face toward the wilderness (desert).

“He found him in a desert land,In the howling wasteland of a wilderness;He kept circling him, He took care of him,He protected him as the apple of His eye.

To the east Bela settled as far as the entrance into the desert from the river Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead.

Some [of the men] of Manasseh also defected to David when he came with the Philistines to go to battle against Saul. But David’s men did not [actually] assist the Philistines, for the lords (governors) of the Philistines after consultation sent him away, saying, “At the cost of our heads he may defect to his master Saul.”

and suddenly, a great wind came from across the desert, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

“Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert,The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food;As bread for their children in the desert.

To bring rain on the uninhabited land,And on the desert where no man lives,

How often they rebelled against Him in the wildernessAnd grieved Him in the desert!

But lusted intensely in the wildernessAnd tempted God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.

They wandered in the wilderness in a [solitary] desert region;And did not find a way to an inhabited city.

It is better to dwell in a desert landThan with a contentious and troublesome woman.

(The Bridegroom)“How fair and beautiful you are, my darling,How very beautiful!Your eyes behind your veil are like those of a dove;Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goatsThat have descended from Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan].

But desert creatures will lie down there,And their houses will be full of owls;Ostriches also will live there, and wild goats will dance there.

Send lambs to the ruler of the land [you Moabites],From Sela [that is, Petra in Edom] through the wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon):As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through,So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.

“His rock [his stronghold] will pass away because of panic,And his princes will be terrified at the [sight of the battle] standard,”Declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

The land mourns and dries out,Lebanon is shamed and [its lush foliage] withers;Sharon is like a desert plain,And Bashan and [Mount] Carmel shake off their leaves.

The creatures of the desert will encounter jackalsAnd the hairy goat will call to its kind;Indeed, Lilith (night demon) will settle thereAnd find herself a place of rest.

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;The Arabah (desert) will shout in exultation and blossomLike the autumn crocus.

Then the lame will leap like a deer,And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.For waters will break forth in the wildernessAnd streams in the desert.

A voice of one is calling out,“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness [remove the obstacles];Make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

“I will put the cedar in the wilderness,The acacia, the myrtle and the olive tree;I will place the juniper in the desertTogether with the box tree and the cypress,

“Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing,Now it will spring forth;Will you not be aware of it?I will even put a road in the wilderness,Rivers in the desert.

“The beasts of the field will honor Me,Jackals and ostriches,Because I have given waters in the wildernessAnd rivers in the desert,To give drink to My people, My chosen.

“Why, when I came, was there no man [to greet Me]?When I called, why was there no one to answer?Is My hand really so short that it cannot redeem [My servants]?Or have I no power to rescue?Listen carefully, with My rebuke I dry up the sea,I make the rivers into a desert;Their fish stink because there is no waterAnd die of thirst.

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.

Or [you have the untamed and reckless nature of] a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,That sniffs the wind in her passion [for the scent of a mate].In her mating season who can restrain her?No males seeking her need to weary themselves;In her month they will find her [looking for them].

“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see;Where have you not been violated?You sat by the road waiting [eagerly] for them [those man-made gods]Like an Arab [tribesman who waits to attack] in the desert,And you have desecrated the landWith your [vile] prostitution and your wickedness (disobedience to God).

I looked, and behold, the fertile land was a wilderness,And all its cities were pulled downBefore the [presence of the] Lord, before His fierce anger.

Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,A wolf of the deserts will destroy them,A leopard is watching their cities.Everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,Because their transgressions are many,Their desertions of faith are countless.

Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those who live in the desert who clip off the hair on their temples; for all these nations are uncircumcised (sinful, impure), and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

“Destroyers have comeOn all the caravan roads in the desert,For the sword of the Lord (Babylon) is devouringFrom one end of the land even to the other;No one has peace or a way of escape.

“Therefore I will scatter you like drifting straw[Driven away] by the desert wind.

“For he will be like a shrub in the [parched] desert;And shall not see prosperity when it comes,But shall live in the rocky places of the wilderness,In an uninhabited salt land.

all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign population who live in the desert;

“Flee, run far away! Dwell in the depths [of the desert],O inhabitants of Hazor,” says the Lord,“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has planned a course of action against youAnd devised a scheme against you.

Your mother [Babylon] shall be greatly shamed;She who gave you birth will be ashamed.Behold, she will be the least of the nations,A wilderness, a parched land and a desert.

“Therefore wild beasts of the desert will live there [in Babylon] with the jackals;The ostriches also will live there,And it will never again be inhabited [with people]Or lived in from generation to generation.

Even the jackals offer the breast,They nurse their young;But the daughter of my people has become cruelLike ostriches in the wilderness [that desert their young].

“I will make a covenant of peace with them and will eliminate the predatory animals from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep [safely] in the woods.

For though he flourishes among the reeds (his fellow tribes),An east wind (Assyria) will come,The breath of the Lord rising from the desert;And Ephraim’s spring will become dryAnd his fountain will be dried up.Assyria will plunder his treasury of every precious object.

And the Lord will stretch out His hand against the northAnd destroy Assyria,And He will make Nineveh a desolation [a wasteland],Parched as the desert.

In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea [along the western side of the Dead Sea] and saying,

This is the one who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said,“The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,‘Prepare the road for the Lord,Make His highways straight (level, direct)!’”

Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind [which is commonplace]?

yet he has no [substantial] root in himself, but is only temporary, and when pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles and falls away [abandoning the One who is the source of salvation].

The disciples said to Him, “Where are we to get enough bread in this isolated place to feed so large a crowd?”

At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their association with Me] and will fall away [from the One whom they should trust] and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another.

So if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out there, or, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms [of a house],’ do not believe it.

Peter replied to Him, “Though they all fall away because of You [and doubt and disown You], I will never fall away!”

A voice of one shouting in the wilderness,‘Prepare the way of the Lord,Make His paths straight!’”

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins [that is, requiring a change of one’s old way of thinking, turning away from sin and seeking God and His righteousness].

Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness.

He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.

But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news [of his healing], to such an extent that Jesus could no longer openly enter a city [where He was known], but stayed out in the unpopulated places; yet people were still coming to Him from everywhere.

Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away [and be ashamed and be afraid to be associated with Me as disciples], because it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

But Peter said to Him, “Even if they all fall away [and desert You, ashamed and afraid of being associated with You], yet I will not [do so]!”

in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas [his son-in-law], the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

as it is written and forever remains written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,“The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,‘Prepare the way of the Lord,Make His paths straight.

for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, He was hungry.

When daybreak came, Jesus left [Simon Peter’s house] and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and [they] came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them.

But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray [in seclusion].

When John’s messengers left, Jesus began speaking to the crowds about John: “What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

Now He was [already] commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him [violently] many times; and he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost, [searching] until he finds it?

He said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

Just as Moses lifted up the [bronze] serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross],

For that reason Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but left there and went to the district that borders on the uninhabited wilderness, to a town called Ephraim; and He stayed there with the disciples.

“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

This man led them out [of Egypt] after performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles [divine words that still live] to be handed down to you.

But God turned away [from them] and handed them over to serve the host of heaven. As it is written and forever remains written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not [really] to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?

But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the road that runs from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” (This is a desert road).

Then you are not [as I assumed] the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led those 4,000 men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?”

many times on journeys, [exposed to] danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own countrymen, danger from the Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger on the sea, danger among those posing as believers;

Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God.

while it is said,“Today [while there is still opportunity] if you hear His voice,Do not harden your heart, as when they provoked Me [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].”

And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies were scattered in the desert?

Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that she would be nourished there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one-half years).

But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time (three and one-half years), away from the presence of the serpent (Satan).

And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was entirely covered with blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.

And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, for the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich from her great wealth, because in one hour she has been laid waste!’