'Places' in the Bible

I am like a [mournful] vulture of the wilderness;I am like a [desolate] owl of the wasteland.

Bless the Lord, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion;Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul!

He opened the rock and water flowed out;It ran in the dry places like a river.

He pours contempt on princesAnd makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.

Their [wicked, godless] judges are thrown down the sides of the rocky cliff,And they [who followed them] will hear my words, for they are pleasant (just).

For the enemy has persecuted me,He has crushed my life down to the ground;He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have been long dead.

She calls out at the head of the noisy streets [where large crowds gather];At the entrance of the city gates she speaks her words:

Then your barns will be abundantly filledAnd your vats will overflow with new wine.

She has sent out her maidens, she callsFrom the highest places of the city:

She sits at the doorway of her house,On a seat by the high and conspicuous places of the city,

folly is set in many exalted places and in great dignity while the rich sit in humble places.

“I am the rose [of the plain] of Sharon,The lily of the valleys [that grows in deep places].”

Then the lambs will graze [among the ruins] as in their own pasture,And strangers will eat in the desolate places of the [exiled] wealthy.

The Lord has removed [His] people far away,And there are many deserted places in the midst of the land.

They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep.Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba;Everyone’s head is shaved, and every beard is cut off [in mourning].

In their streets they have wrapped themselves with sackcloth;On their [flat] housetops and in their open squaresEveryone is wailing, dissolved in tears.

In that day the strong cities of Aram and Israel will be like deserted places in the forest,Or like branches which they abandoned before the children of Israel;And the land will be a desolation.

But if you say to me, ‘We trust in and rely on the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?

“Every valley shall be raised,And every mountain and hill be made low;And let the rough ground become a plain,And the rugged places a broad valley.

“I will lead the blind by a way they do not know;I will guide them in paths that they do not know.I will make darkness into light before themAnd rugged places into plains.These things I will do [for them],And I will not leave them abandoned or undone.”

“I will go before you and level the mountains;I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

“I will give you the treasures of darkness [the hoarded treasures]And the hidden riches of secret places,So that you may know that it is I,The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you (Cyrus the Great) by your name.

“For your ruins and desolate places and your land [once the scene] of destruction—Certainly now [in the coming years] will be too cramped for the inhabitants,And those who once engulfed you will be far away.

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.

“And the Lord will continually guide you,And satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places,And give strength to your bones;And you will be like a watered garden,And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

Then you will take pleasure in the Lord,And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth,And I will feed you with the [promised] heritage of Jacob your father;For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

We grope for a wall like the blind,We grope like those who have no eyes.We stumble at midday as in the twilight;Among those who are healthy we are like dead men.

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.

Who sit among the graves [trying to conjure up evil spirits] and spend the night in the secret places [where spirits are thought to dwell];Who eat swine’s flesh,And their pots hold the broth of unclean meat;

They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire [to honor Molech, the fire god]—which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart (mind).

And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant of those who remain of this evil family (nation), who remain in all the places to which I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.

O [Jerusalem] My mountain in the countryside,I will give [to the Babylonians, as the cost of your sin] your wealth and all your treasures as plunder,And throughout your territory, your high places of sin.

“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.

People will come from the cities of Judah and the places all around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the South (the Negev), bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord.

and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind (heart);

“Can anyone hide himself in secret placesSo that I cannot see him?” says the Lord.“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.

I will make them a focus of ridicule and disappointment [tossed back and forth] among all the kingdoms of the earth, a [notorious] disgrace, a byword, a taunt and a curse in all places where I will scatter them.

I will be found by you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and I will [free you and] gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

They built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom) to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to [worship and honor] Molech—which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this repulsive thing, to cause Judah to sin.

People will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South (the Negev); for I will restore their fortunes and release them from exile,’ says the Lord.”

In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South (the Negev), in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,’ says the Lord.

then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered a great abundance of wine and summer fruits.

“But I have stripped Esau (Edom) bare;I have uncovered his hiding placesAnd he cannot hide himself.His descendants have been destroyed along with his brothers (relatives) and his neighbors;And he is no more.

“My people have become lost sheep;Their shepherds have led them astray.They have made them turn aside [to the seductive places of idolatry] on the mountains.They have gone along [from one sin to another] from mountain to hill;They have forgotten their [own] resting place.

The Lord has swallowed up; He has not sparedAll the country places of Jacob.In His wrath He has thrown downThe strongholds of the Daughter of Judah (Jerusalem).He has brought them down to the ground [in disgrace];He has debased the kingdom and its princes.

He has made me live in dark placesLike those who have long been dead.

He is to me like a bear lying in wait,And like a lion [hiding] in secret places.

and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places [of idolatrous worship],

Everywhere you live, the cities will become waste and the high places will become deserted, so that your altars may bear their guilt and become deserted, your idols may be broken and destroyed, your incense altars [for sun-worship] may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.

Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every leafy tree and under every oak with thick branches, the places where they offered sweet incense and a soothing aroma to all their idols.

Therefore, I will bring the worst of the [Gentile] nations, and they will take possession of their houses [those of the people of Judah]; I will also silence their pride, and their holy places will be profaned.

O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among the ruins.

You took some of your clothes and made for yourself [decorated] high places and shrines of various colors and prostituted yourself on them—things which should never have come about and taken place.

I will also hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and they will leave you naked and bare.

“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and direct your [prophetic] word against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel

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.

You shall say this to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, those who are in the ruins certainly will fall by the sword, and I will give whoever is in the open field to the [predatory] animals to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves will die of virulent diseases.

As a shepherd cares for his sheep on the day that he is among his scattered flock, so I will care for My sheep; and I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.

I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.

I will make them and the places around My hill (Jerusalem, Zion) a blessing. And I will make showers come down in their season; there will be [abundant] showers of blessing (divine favor).

I will multiply people on you, all the house of Israel, [indeed] all of it; the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins will be rebuilt.

‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your sins I will also cause the cities [of Israel] to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

Then the nations that are left around you will know that I the Lord have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and will do it.”

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].’

so that the fishes of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all the creatures that crawl on the earth, and all the men that are on the face of the earth will tremble and shake at My presence; the mountains will crumble, the steep places will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground.

In a time of tranquility, [without warning] he will enter the most productive and richest parts of the kingdom [of Egypt], and he will accomplish that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers’ fathers; he will distribute plunder, spoil and goods among them. He will devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time [decreed by God].

Also the high places of Aven (Beth-aven), the sin of Israel, will be destroyed;The thorn and the thistle will grow on their [pagan] altars,And [in despair] they will say to the mountains,“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

“I also gave you cleanness of teeth [because of the famine] in all your citiesAnd lack of bread in all your places,Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

“And the [idolatrous] high places of Isaac (Israel) will be devastated and deserted,And the sanctuaries of Israel will be in ruins.Then I shall rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword [and destroy the monarchy].”

But Jonah ran away to Tarshish to escape from the presence of the Lord [and his duty as His prophet]. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading cities]. So he paid the fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.

For behold, the Lord is coming down from His placeHe shall come down and tread [in judgment] on the high places of the earth.

All this is because of the rebellion and apostasy of JacobAnd for the sins of the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom).What is the rebellion and apostasy of Jacob?Is it not [the abandonment of God in order to worship the idols of] Samaria?What are the high places [of idolatry] in Judah (the Southern Kingdom)?Are they not Jerusalem [the capital and center of corruption]?

They shall lick the dust like a serpent;Like crawling things of the earthThey shall come trembling out of their fortresses and hiding places.They shall turn and come with fear and dread to the Lord our GodAnd they shall be afraid and stand in awe before You [O Lord].

Your bow was made bare;The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah (pause, calmly think of that).You split the earth with rivers [bringing waters to dry places].

The Lord God is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army];He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feetAnd makes me walk [forward with spiritual confidence] on my high places [of challenge and responsibility].For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If you will walk in My ways [that is, remain faithful] and perform My service, then you will also govern My house and have charge of My courts, and I will give you free access [to My presence] among these who are standing here.

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.”

Jesus replied to him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

“Now when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through waterless (dry, arid) places in search of rest, but it does not find it.

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.

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.

and [they love] the chief seats in the synagogues and the places of distinction and honor at banquets,

For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These things are the beginning of the birth pangs [the intolerable anguish and suffering].

‘Every ravine shall be filled up,And every mountain and hill shall be leveled;And the crooked [places] shall be made straight,And the rough roads smooth;

“When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest; and not finding any, it says, ‘I will go back to my house (person) from which I came.’

Now Jesus began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been selecting the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes [displaying their prominence], and love respectful greetings in the [crowded] market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets.

There will be violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and [deadly and devastating] pestilences (plagues, epidemics); and there will be terrible sights and great signs from heaven.

Then the disciples went back again to their own homes.

Paul wanted Timothy to go with him [as a missionary]; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.

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;

which He produced in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places,

a Minister (Officiating Priest) in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which is erected not by man, but by the Lord.

(people of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and [living in] caves and holes in the ground.