Isaiah 14:23
New International Version
“I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD Almighty.

New Living Translation
“I will make Babylon a desolate place of owls, filled with swamps and marshes. I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”

English Standard Version
“And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.

Berean Standard Bible
“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

King James Bible
I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

New King James Version
“I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, And marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the LORD of hosts.

New American Standard Bible
“I will also make it the property of the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of armies.

NASB 1995
“I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.

NASB 1977
“I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog, and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.

Legacy Standard Bible
“I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares Yahweh of hosts.

Amplified Bible
“I will also make Babylon a possession of the hedgehog and of swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.

Christian Standard Bible
“I will make her a swampland and a region for herons, and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction.” This is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I will make her a swampland and a region for screech owls, and I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction.” This is the declaration of the LORD of Hosts.

American Standard Version
I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And I shall make it an inheritance for owls and pools of waters, and I shall gather it with a broom of destruction, says LORD JEHOVAH of Hosts

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And I will make the region of Babylon desert, so that hedgehogs shall dwell there, and it shall come to nothing: and I will make it a pit of clay for destruction.

Contemporary English Version
The LORD will sweep out the people, and the land will become a swamp for wild animals.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will make it a possession for the ericius and pools of waters, and I will sweep it and wear it out with a besom, saith the Lord of hosts.

English Revised Version
I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"It will become the possession of herons. It will become pools of water. I'll sweep it with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD of Armies.

Good News Translation
I will turn Babylon into a marsh, and owls will live there. I will sweep Babylon with a broom that will sweep everything away. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken."

International Standard Version
"And I'm going to make it a possession of the hedgehog—pools of water—and I'll sweep with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

JPS Tanakh 1917
I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

Literal Standard Version
“And have made it for a possession of a hedgehog, | And ponds of waters, | And swept it with the broom of destruction,” | A declaration of YHWH of Hosts!

Majority Standard Bible
“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

New American Bible
I will make it a haunt of hoot owls and a marshland; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, oracle of the LORD of hosts.

NET Bible
"I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals and covered with pools of stagnant water. I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom," says the LORD who commands armies.

New Revised Standard Version
And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the LORD of hosts.

New Heart English Bible
"I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," says the LORD of hosts.

Webster's Bible Translation
I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

World English Bible
“I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says Yahweh of Armies.

Young's Literal Translation
And have made it for a possession of a bittern, And ponds of waters, And daubed it with the mire of destruction, The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts!

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Downfall of the King of Babylon
22“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will cut off from Babylon her name and her remnant, her offspring and her posterity,” declares the LORD. 23“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

Cross References
1 Kings 14:10
Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone!

Isaiah 13:6
Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Isaiah 13:20
She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there.

Isaiah 21:1
This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.

Isaiah 34:11
The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb line of destruction.

Jeremiah 50:3
For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee."

Jeremiah 50:26
Come against her from the farthest border. Break open her granaries; pile her up like mounds of grain. Devote her to destruction; leave her no survivors.


Treasury of Scripture

I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, said the LORD of hosts.

make

Isaiah 13:21,22
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there…

Isaiah 34:11-15
But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness…

Jeremiah 50:39,40
Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation…

I will sweep

1 Kings 14:10
Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

2 Kings 21:13
And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

Jeremiah 51:25,26
Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain…

Jump to Previous
Affirmation Armies Bittern Broom Brush Daubed Declares Destruction Hedgehog Heritage Hosts Mire Owls Ponds Pools Porcupine Possession Swamps Sweep Turn Water Waters
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Affirmation Armies Bittern Broom Brush Daubed Declares Destruction Hedgehog Heritage Hosts Mire Owls Ponds Pools Porcupine Possession Swamps Sweep Turn Water Waters
Isaiah 14
1. God's merciful restoration of Israel
3. Their triumphant exultation over Babel
24. God's purpose against Assyria
29. Philistia is threatened














(23) I will also make it a possession for the bittern . . .--Naturalists are not agreed as to the meaning of the noun. In the LXX. and Vulgate it appears as "hedgehog," or "porcupine," and the "tortoise," "beaver," "otter," and "owl" have all been suggested by scholars. Its conjunction with "pelican in Isaiah 34:11 and Zephaniah 2:14, and with" pools of water "here, is in favour of some kind of water-fowl. The "hedgehog" frequents dry places, and not marshes, and does not roost, as in Zephaniah 2:14, on the capitals of ruined columns. On the whole, therefore, "bittern" (Botaurus stellaris) may as well stand.

Pools of water.--These were the natural result of the breaking up of the canals, sluices, reservoirs, which had kept the overflow of the Euphrates within bounds (Diod. Sic., ii. 7).

I will sweep it with the besom of destruction . . .--The phrase has its parallel in the "sieve of vanity," in Isaiah 30:28. (Comp. Isaiah 34:11) The force of the image must not be lost sight of Babylon is to be swept away as men sweep away some foul rubbish from their house. The world is cleaner for its destruction. The solemn doom closes the "burden" of Babylon. . . .

Verse 23. - A possession for the bittern. Some water-bird or other is probably intended, since the word used is joined in Isaiah 36:11 with the names of three other birds, and is also certainly a bird's name in Zephaniah 2:14; but the identification with the "bittern" is a mere guess, and rests on no authority. And pools of water. The swampy character of the country about the ruins of Babylon is generally noticed by travelers. It arises from neglect of the dams along the course of the Euphrates. Ker Porter says that "large deposits of the Euphrates water are left stagnant in the hollows between the ruins" ('Travels,' vol. 2. p. 389).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“I will make her
וְשַׂמְתִּ֛יהָ (wə·śam·tî·hā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

a place
לְמוֹרַ֥שׁ (lə·mō·w·raš)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4180: A possession, delight

for owls
קִפֹּ֖ד (qip·pōḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7090: A species of bird, the bittern

and swamplands;
וְאַגְמֵי־ (wə·’aḡ·mê-)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 98: A marsh, a rush, a stockade of reeds

I will sweep her away
וְטֵֽאטֵאתִ֙יהָ֙ (wə·ṭê·ṭê·ṯî·hā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 2894: To sweep away

with the broom
בְּמַטְאֲטֵ֣א (bə·maṭ·’ă·ṭê)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4292: Broom, besom

of destruction,”
הַשְׁמֵ֔ד (haš·mêḏ)
Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 8045: To be exterminated or destroyed

declares
נְאֻ֖ם (nə·’um)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5002: An oracle

the LORD
יְהוָ֥ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

of Hosts.
צְבָאֽוֹת׃ (ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ)
Noun - common plural
Strong's 6635: A mass of persons, reg, organized for, war, a campaign


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 14:23 I will also make it a possession (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 14:22
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