'Desert' in the Bible
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.