'Down' in the Bible

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.

Which used to strike the peoples in anger with incessant blows,Which subdued and ruled the nations in wrath with unrelenting persecution.

‘Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,Along with the music of your harps;The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’

“How you have fallen from heaven,O star of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!You have been cut down to the ground,You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!

“But [in fact] you will be brought down to Sheol,To the remote recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).

“But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial)Like a rejected branch,Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword,Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown],Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].

“The firstborn of the helpless [of Judah] will feed [on My meadows],And the needy will lie down in safety;But I will kill your root with famine,And your survivors will be put to death.

For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well;The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.

“The cities of Aroer [east of the Jordan] are deserted;They will be [only a refuge] for flocks to lie down in,And there will be no one to make them afraid.

O my threshed people [Judah, who must be judged and trampled down by Babylon], my afflicted of the threshing floor.What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,The God of Israel, I have [joyfully] announced to you [that Babylon is to fall].

For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic and of tumult, of trampling, of confusionIn the Valley of Vision,A [day of] breaking down wallsAnd a crying [for help] to the mountain.

Then you counted the houses of JerusalemAnd you tore down the houses [to get materials] to fortify the city wall [by extending it].

“I will depose you from your office,And you will be pulled down from your position [of importance].

In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

Behold, the Lord lays waste to the earth, devastates it, twists and distorts its face and scatters its inhabitants.

The city of chaos is broken down;Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.

Like heat in a dry land, You will subdue the noise of foreigners [rejoicing over their enemies];Like heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the tyrants is silenced.

For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain [Zion],And Moab will be trampled down in his placeAs straw is trampled down in the [filthy] water of a manure pile.

And Moab will spread out his hands in the middle of the filthAs a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,But the Lord will humiliate his pride in spite of the [skillful] movements of his hands.

The high fortifications of your walls He will bring down,Lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

“For He has thrown down the [arrogant] ones who dwell on high, the lofty and inaccessible city;He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He hurls it to the dust.

“The foot will trample it,Even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless.”

For the fortified city is isolated,A settlement deserted and abandoned like the desert;There the calf will graze,And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.

Woe (judgment is coming) to [Samaria] the splendid crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,Which is at the head of the rich valleyOf those who are overcome with wine!

Listen carefully, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent [the Assyrian];Like a tempest of hail, a disastrous storm,Like a tempest of mighty overflowing waters,He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.

The splendid crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trampled by [the foreigners’] feet.

“Your covenant with death will be annulled,And your agreement with Sheol (the place of the dead) will not stand;When the overwhelming scourge passes through,Then you will become its trampling ground.

You turn things upside down [with your perversity]!Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay,That the thing that is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;Or the thing that is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Who proceed down to EgyptWithout consulting Me,To take refuge in the stronghold of PharaohAnd to take shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

And the Lord will make His majestic voice heard,And show the descending of His arm [striking] in [His] fierce anger,And in the flame of a devouring fire,In the crashing sound of heavy rain, cloudburst, and hailstones.

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who go down to Egypt for help,Who rely on horsesAnd trust in chariots because they are many,And in horsemen because they are very strong,But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek and consult the Lord!

For so the Lord says to me,“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,And though a large group of shepherds is called out against himHe will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise,So the Lord of hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”

But it will hail, when the forest comes down,And the [capital] city will fall in utter humiliation.

“The peoples will be burned to lime,Like thorns cut down which are burned in the fire.

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts and observances;Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a undisturbed settlement,A tent which will not be taken down;Not one of its stakes will ever be pulled up,Nor any of its ropes be severed.

For My sword is satiated [with blood] in heaven;Indeed, it will come down for judgment on EdomAnd on the people whom I have doomed for destruction.

“Through your servants you have taunted and defied the Lord,And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,To the remotest parts of Lebanon.I cut down its tallest cedars and its choicest cypress trees;And I will go to its remotest height, its most luxuriant and thickest forest.

“But I know your sitting downAnd your going out and your coming in [every detail of your life],And your raging against Me.

Listen carefully, I will turn the shadow on the stairway [denoting the time of day] ten steps backward, the shadow on the stairway (sundial) of Ahaz.” And the sunlight went ten steps backward on the stairway where it had [previously] gone down.

“For Sheol cannot praise or thank You,Death cannot praise You and rejoice in You;Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

Sing to the Lord a new song,Sing His praise from the end of the earth!You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,You islands and coastlands, and those who inhabit them [sing His praise]!

This is what the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says,“For your sake I have sent [one] to Babylon,And I will bring down all of them as fugitives,Even the Chaldeans [who reign in Babylon], into the ships over which they rejoiced.

He who brings out the chariot and the horse,The army and the mighty warrior,(They will lie down together, they will not rise again;They have been extinguished, they have been put out like a lamp’s wick):

Then it becomes fuel for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god [from the same wood] and worships it. He makes it into a carved idol [with his own hands] and falls down and worships it!

But from what is left of the wood he makes a god, his carved idol. He falls down before it, he worships it and prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”

No one remembers, nor has knowledge and understanding [enough] to say [to himself], “I have burned half of this log in the fire, and also baked bread on its coals and have roasted meat and eaten it. Then I make the rest of it into an repulsive thing [to God]; I bow down [to worship] before a block of wood!”

“Rain down, O heavens, from above,Let the clouds pour down righteousness [all the blessings of God];Let the earth open up, let salvation bear fruit,And righteousness spring up with it;I, the Lord, have created it.

For this is what the Lord says,“The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush (ancient Ethiopia)And the Sabeans, men of stature,Will come over to you and they will be yours;They will walk behind you, in chains [of subjection to you] they will come over,And they will bow down before you;They will make supplication to you, [humbly and earnestly] saying,‘Most certainly God is with you, and there is no other,No other God [besides Him].’”

Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;Their idols are on the beasts [of burden] and on the cattle.Your burdens [of idols] are loaded [on them],Burdens on the weary animals.

They stooped over, they have bowed down together;They could not rescue the burden [of their own idols],But have themselves gone into captivity.

“Those who lavish gold from the bagAnd weigh out silver on the scalesHire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;They bow down, indeed they worship it.

“They lift it on their shoulders [in religious processions or into battle] and carry it;They set it in its place and there it remains standing.It cannot move from its place.Even if one cries to it [for help], the idol cannot answer;It cannot save him from his distress.

“Come down and sit in the dust,O virgin daughter of Babylon;Sit on the ground [in abject humiliation]; there is no throne for you,O daughter of the Chaldeans,For you will no longer be called tender and delicate.

“Kings will be your attendants,And their princesses your nurses.They will bow down to you with their faces to the earthAnd lick the dust of your feet;And you shall know [with an understanding based on personal experience] that I am the Lord;For they shall not be put to shame who wait and hope expectantly for Me.

Listen carefully, all you who kindle your own fire [devising your own man-made plan of salvation],Who surround yourselves with torches,Walk by the light of your [self-made] fireAnd among the torches that you have set ablaze.But this you will have from My hand:You will lie down in [a place of] torment.

The [captive] exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his food be lacking.

Therefore, now hear this, you who are afflicted,Who are drunk, but not with wine [but overwhelmed by the wrath of God].

“I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,Who have said to you, ‘Lie down so that we may walk over you.’You have even made your back like the groundAnd like the street for those who walk over it.”

For the Lord God says this, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there; and [many years later Sennacherib] the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,And do not return there without watering the earth,Making it bear and sprout,And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

Israel’s watchmen are blind,They are all without knowledge.They are all mute dogs, they cannot bark;Panting, lying down, they love to slumber.

“Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself [with sorrow in his soul]?Is it only to bow down his head like a reedAnd to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed [pretending to have a repentant heart]?Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?

“The sons of those who oppressed you will come bowing down to you [in submission],And all those who despised you and treated you disrespectfully will bow down at the soles of your feet,And they will call you the City of the Lord,The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

“Your sun will no longer set,Nor will your moon wane;For the Lord will be your everlasting light,And the days of your mourning will be over.

“I trampled the peoples in My angerAnd made them drunk with [the cup of] My wrath,And I spilled their lifeblood on the earth.”

Like the cattle that go down into the valley [to find better pasture and rest],The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.So You led Your people [O Lord]To make for Yourself a beautiful and glorious name [preparing the way for the acknowledgment of Your name by all nations].

Look down from heaven and see from Your lofty dwelling place, holy and glorious.Where are Your zeal and Your mighty acts [Your miracles which you did for Your people]?The stirring of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained and withheld from me.

Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for [only] a little while;Our adversaries have trampled it down.

Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down,That the mountains might quake at Your presence—

When You did awesome and amazing things which we did not expect,You came down [at Sinai]; the mountains quaked at Your presence.

“And [the plain of] Sharon will be a place for flocks to graze,And the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,For My people who seek Me [who long for Me and require My presence in their lives].

I will destine you for the sword, [says the Lord],And all of you will bow down to the slaughter,Because when I called, you did not answer;When I spoke, you did not listen or obey.But you did [what was] evil in My sightAnd chose that in which I did not delight.”

For the Lord says this, “Behold, I extend peace to her (Jerusalem) like a river,And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;And you will be nursed, you will be carried on her hip and [playfully] rocked on her knees.

“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,To uproot and break down,To destroy and to overthrow,To build and to plant.”

But you [Jeremiah], gird up your loins [in preparation]! Get up and tell them all which I command you. Do not be distraught and break down at the sight of their [hostile] faces, or I will bewilder you before them and allow you to be overcome.

“They will consume your harvest and [eat up] your bread;They will consume your sons and your daughters;They will consume your flocks and your herds;They will consume your vines and your fig trees.With the sword they will break down and demolish your fortified cities in which you trust.

For the Lord of hosts has said,“Cut down her treesAnd build a siege [mound] against Jerusalem.This is the city which must be punished;There is nothing but oppression inside her [walls].

“Let them hurry and take up a wailing for us,That our eyes may shed tearsAnd our eyelids flow with water.

“For a sound of wailing is heard [coming] from Zion:‘How we are ruined!We are greatly perplexed and utterly shamed,Because we have left the land,Because they have torn down our dwellings.’”

But if you will not listen and obey,My soul will weep in secret for your pride;My eyes will weep bitterlyAnd flow with tears,Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

Say to the king and the queen mother,“Humble yourselves and take a lowly seat,For your beautiful crown [the crown of your glory]Has come down from your head.”

“Therefore [Jeremiah] you will say this word to them,‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,And let them never cease;For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a great blow,With a very serious and severely infected wound.

“She who has borne seven [sons] languishes;She has breathed out her soul.Her sun has set while it was still day;She has been shamed and humiliated.So I will hand over [the rest of] the survivors to the swordBefore their enemies,” says the Lord.

“Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will make you hear My words.”

Then I went down to the potter’s house, and saw that he was working at the wheel.

At one moment I might [suddenly] speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will uproot and break down and destroy;

‘Will the snow of [Mount] Lebanon melt and vanish from its rocks [which tower above Israel]?Will the cold, rushing waters of foreign lands [that flow down from the distant land] be dried up?

“Understand this, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,O rock of the plain,” says the Lord—“You who say, ‘Who will come down against us?Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’

Thus says the Lord, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak this word there:

“For I will prepare and appoint destroyers [to execute My judgments] against you,Each with his weapons;And they will cut down your [palaces built of] choicest cedarsAnd throw them in the fire.

Thus says the Lord,‘Write this man [Coniah] down as childless,A man who will not prosper (succeed) in his lifetime;For not one of his descendants will succeedIn sitting on the throne of DavidOr ruling again in Judah.’”

For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overwhelm them, and I will plant them and not uproot them.

When the princes (court officials) of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat in the entrance of the New Gate of the house of the Lord.

‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ says the Lord,‘Nor be dismayed or downcast, O Israel;For behold, I will save you from a distant land [of exile]And your descendants from the land of their captivity.Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease,And no one will make him afraid.

It will be that as I have watched over them to uproot and to break down, to overthrow, destroy, and afflict with disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant [with good],” says the Lord.

For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah which are torn down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword,

he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and behold, all the princes were sitting there: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the [other] princes.

And they said to him, “Sit down now and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.

So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down [into the cistern] with ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the palace of the king to a place under the storeroom and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.