'Waste' in the Bible

The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.

But Moses diligently tried to find the goat [that had been offered] as the sin offering, and discovered that it had been burned up [as waste, not eaten]! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying,

I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you sudden terror, consumption, and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to languish also. And you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat what you plant.

I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your sweet and soothing aromas [of offerings by fire].

I will scatter you among the nations and draw out the sword [of your enemies] after you; your land will become desolate and your cities will become ruins.

As long as it lies desolate, it will have rest, the rest it did not have on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it.

“We have shot them down [with arrows];Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon,And we have laid them waste as far as Nophah,Which reaches to Medeba.”

‘The whole land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it; it is like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and wrath.’

For this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain [again] on the face of the earth.’”

It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have devastated the nations and their lands

‘Have you not heard [asks the God of Israel]?Long ago I did it;From ancient times I planned it.Now I have brought it to pass,That you [king of Assyria] should [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and not be moved again [nor tremble with fear]; and the wicked will not waste (persecute) them anymore, as formerly,

in order that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that this is a rebellious city, damaging to kings and provinces, and that in the past they have incited rebellion within it. That is why that city was laid waste (destroyed).

and I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?”

“The paths of their course wind along,They go up into nothing and perish.[Your counsel is as helpful to me as a dry streambed in the heat of summer.]

To satisfy the barren and desolate groundAnd to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

“With rebukes You discipline man for sin;You consume like a moth what is precious to him;Surely every man is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]. Selah.

For they have devoured JacobAnd made his pasture desolate.

Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,Nor of the destruction (sudden death) that lays waste at noon.

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

A productive land into a [barren] salt waste,Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

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

“I will turn it into a wasteland;It will not be pruned or cultivated,But briars and thorns will come up.I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.”

Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,And houses are without peopleAnd the land is utterly desolate,

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Moab:Because in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;Because in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Tyre:Wail, O ships of Tarshish,For Tyre is destroyed, without house, without harbor;It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).

Wail, O ships of Tarshish,For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.

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

The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the Lord has spoken this word.

The highways are deserted, the traveler has ceased [to appear].The enemy has broken the covenant, he has rejected the cities,He has no regard for [any] man.

The burning will not be quenched night or day;Its smoke will go up forever.From generation to generation it will lie in ruins;No one will ever again pass through it.

It is true, O Lord, that the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands,

“Have you not heard [says the God of Israel]That I did it long ago,That I planned it in ancient times?Now I have brought it to pass,That you [king of Assyria] would [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

All the nations are as nothing before Him,They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

“In fact, all of these [pagan prophets and priests] are false;Their works are worthless,Their cast images are [merely] wind and emptiness.

“I will lay waste the mountains and hillsAnd wither all their vegetation;I will turn the rivers into coastlandsAnd dry up the ponds.

For the Lord, who created the heavens (He is God, who formed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it to be a wasteland, but formed it to be inhabited) says this,“I am the Lord, and there is no one else.

“Your builders hurry;Your destroyers and devastatorsWill go away from you.

“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 your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations [of buildings that have been laid waste];You will be called Repairer of the Breach,Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

“For the nation or the kingdom which will not serve you [Jerusalem] shall perish,And the nations [that refuse to serve] shall be utterly ruined.

“The young lions have roared at him,They have made their voices heard and roared loudly.And they have made his land a waste;His cities have been destroyed and are burned ruins, without inhabitant.

“A lion has left his lair,And a destroyer of nations is on his way.He has gone out from his placeTo desolate your land;Your cities will be in ruinsWithout an inhabitant.

News of one [terrible] disaster comes close after another,For the whole land is devastated;Suddenly my tents are spoiled and destroyed,My [tent] curtains [ruined] in a moment.

I looked at the earth [in my vision], and behold, it was [as at the time of creation] formless and void;And to the heavens, and they had no light.

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.

Then I will cause the voices of joy and gladness, and the voices of the bridegroom and the bride to vanish from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem; for the land will become a ruin—a wasteland.

Who is the wise man who may understand this [without any doubt]? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, so that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know nor recognize YouAnd on the families that do not call Your name.For they have devoured Jacob;They have devoured him and consumed himAnd made his land a desolate waste.

This whole land will be a waste and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

‘Then when seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia),’ says the Lord, ‘for their wickedness, and will make the land [of the Chaldeans] a perpetual waste.

“A voice! The cry of the shepherdsAnd the wailing of the masters of the flock!For the Lord is destroying their pasture,

“He has left His lair like the lion;For their land has become a horrorBecause of the fierceness of the oppressorAnd because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”

Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a ruin?

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place of which you say, “It is a [desolate] waste, without man and without animal”—even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal—

The Lord could no longer endure it, because of the evil of your acts and the repulsive acts which you have committed; because of them your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

“O you daughter who dwells in Egypt and you who dwell with her,Prepare yourselves [with all you will need] to go into exile,For Memphis will become desolate;It will even be burned down and without inhabitant.

Concerning Moab.Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,“Woe (judgment is coming) to [the city of] Nebo, for it has been destroyed!Kiriathaim has been shamed, it has been captured;Misgab [the high fortress] has been shamed, broken down and crushed.

“Moab is shamed, for she has been broken down and shattered.Wail and cry out!Tell by [the banks of] the ArnonThat Moab has been destroyed.

“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai [in Ammon] has been destroyed!Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!Wrap yourselves with sackcloth and lament (cry out in grief),And rush back and forth inside the enclosures;For Malcam [your powerless god] will go into exileTogether with his priests and his princes.

For I have sworn [an oath] by Myself,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.”

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.

“They will not take from you [even] a stone for a cornerstoneNor any rock for a foundation,But you will be desolate forever,” says the Lord.

For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon and make her a ruin,And He will still her great voice [that hums with city life].And the waves [of her conquerors] roar like great waters,The noise of their voices is raised up [like the marching of an army].

because bread and water will be scarce; and they will look at one another in dismay and waste away [in punishment] for their wickedness.

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.

And I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land a more desolate waste than the wilderness toward Diblah [the Moabite city], throughout all the places where they live; and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”

The cities that are inhabited will be in ruins and the land will be deserted; and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”

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

though these three men were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate (ruined, deserted).

I will make the land desolate (ruined, deserted), because they have acted unfaithfully [through their idolatry],’ says the Lord God.”

‘He destroyed their palacesAnd he flattened their cities;And the land and all who were in it were appalledBy the sound of his roaring.

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross (metallic waste) to Me. All of them are (useless) bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem.

and the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a wasteland. And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine and I have made it,’

behold (hear this), therefore, I am against you and against your rivers (the Nile, its tributaries), and I will make the land of Egypt a complete waste and a desolation, from [northern] Migdol to [southern] Syene, even as far as the border of Ethiopia (Cush).

So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation [plundered and ruined] among desolated lands; and her cities, among cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and [I will] disperse them through the lands.”

“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have said, “Truly our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we are rotting away because of them; how then can we live?”’

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.

And I will make the land [of Israel] a desolation and a ruin, and her pride in her power will be brought to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be so deserted that no one will pass through.

Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a ruin because of all the atrocities which they have committed.”’

“I will destroy your citiesAnd you will become a wasteland.Then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all your scornful speeches which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They have been made a wasteland; they have been given to us as food.’

Thus says the Lord God, “While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you a wasteland.

As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you; you will be a desolate waste, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’

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 they will say, ‘This land that was deserted and desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’

Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the desolate cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know [with confident assurance] that I am the Lord.”’”

After many days you will be summoned [for service]; in the latter years you shall come into the land that is restored from [the ravages of] the sword, where people have been gathered out of many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual wasteland; but its people were brought out of the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.

“I will destroy her vines and her fig treesOf which she has said, ‘These are my wagesWhich my lovers have given me.’And I will make them a forest,And the animals of the open country will devour them.

Yet let no one find fault, nor let any rebuke [others];For your people are like those who contend with the priest.

Is there wickedness (idolatry) in Gilead?Surely the people there are worthless.In Gilgal [they defy Me when] they sacrifice bulls,Yes, [after My judgment] their [pagan] altars are like the stone heapsIn the furrows of the fields.

It has made My vine (My people) a waste and object of horror,And splintered and broken My fig tree.It has stripped them completely bare and thrown them away;Their branches have become white.

The field is ruined,The ground mourns;For the grain is ruined,The new wine is dried up,The fresh oil fails.

“I wounded you with blight [from the hot, blasting east wind] and with mildew;And the caterpillar devouredYour many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees;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].”

“Also I shall bring back the exiles of My people Israel,And they will rebuild the deserted and ruined cities and inhabit them:They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,And make gardens and eat their fruit.