Isaiah 5 · Verse 9

Isaiah 5:9

In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
Isaiah 5:9, King James Version

Isaiah 5:9 in other translations

BSBI heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
WEBIn my ears, the LORD of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied.
ASVIn mine ears saith Jehovah of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
YLTBy the weapons of Jehovah of Hosts Do not many houses a desolation become? Great and good without inhabitant!
DARBYIn mine ears Jehovah of hosts hath said, Many houses shall assuredly become a desolation, great and excellent ones, without inhabitant.
BBEThe Lord of armies has said to me secretly, Truly, numbers of great and fair houses will be waste, with no one living in them.
WebsterIn my ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

What does Isaiah 5:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
9. In mine ears ... the Lord--namely, has revealed it, as in Is 22:14. desolate--literally, "a desolation," namely, on account of the national sins. great and fair--houses.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 In mine ears. "To mine ear" - The sentence in the Hebrew text seems to be imperfect in this place; as likewise in Isa 22:14 (note), where the very same sense seems to be required as here. See the note there; and compare 1Sam 9:15 (note). In this place the Septuagint supply the word ηκουσθη, and the Syriac אשתמע eshtama, auditus est Jehovah in auribus meis, i.e., נגלה niglah, as in Isa 22:14. Many houses - This has reference to what was said in the preceding verse: "In vain are ye so intent upon joining house to house, and field to field; your houses shall be left uninhabited, and your fields shall become desolate and barren; so that a vineyard of ten acres shall produce but one bath (not eight gallons) of wine, and the husbandman shall reap but a tenth part of the seed which he has sown." Kimchi says this means such an extent of vineyard as would require ten yoke of oxen to plough in one day.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 5:8-23

Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 5:8-23 →

Isaiah 5:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

בְּאָזְנָ֖יbe.'a.ze.Naiin ears myH241
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
צְבָא֑וֹתtze.va.'otof hostsH6635
אִם\־'im-ifH518
לֹ֞אlo'notH3808
בָּתִּ֤יםba.TimhousesH1004
רַבִּים֙ra.BimmanyH7227
לְשַׁמָּ֣הle.sha.Mah<into> a wasteH8047
יִֽהְי֔וּyih.Yuthey will becomeH1961
גְּדֹלִ֥יםge.do.Limgreat [houses]H1419
וְטוֹבִ֖יםve.to.Vimand good [houses]H2896
מֵאֵ֥יןme.'Einfrom notH369
יוֹשֵֽׁב\׃yo.ShevinhabitantH3427

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 5:9

  • Matthew 23:38

    Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

  • Amos 5:11

    Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

  • Isaiah 22:14

    And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.

  • Amos 3:7

    Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

  • Isaiah 6:11-12

    Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

  • 2 Chronicles 36:21

    To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

  • Matthew 22:7

    But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

  • Amos 6:11

    For, behold, the Lord commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

  • Isaiah 27:10

    Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.

  • Isaiah 5:6

    And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
In mine ears, said. or. This is in mine ears, saith, etc.
22:14; Am 3:7
Of a truth, etc. Heb. If not many houses desolate, etc.desolate.
6; 27:10; 2Ch 36:21; Am 5:11; 6:11; Mt 22:7; 23:38

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 5:8

    Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

  • Isaiah 5:9

    In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

  • Isaiah 5:10

    Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

Read all of Isaiah 5

Isaiah 5:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Ha llegado á mis oídos de parte de Jehová de los ejércitos, que las muchas casas han de quedar asoladas, sin morador las grandes y hermosas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		À mes oreilles, l’ Éternel des armées a dit: Si beaucoup de maisons ne sont désolées, si de grandes et belles maisons ne sont vides d’habitants!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Vor meinen Ohren hat Jehova der Heerscharen gesprochen: Wenn nicht die vielen Häuser zur Wüste werden, die großen und schönen ohne Bewohner!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		In auribus meis sunt hæc, dicit Dominus exercituum; nisi domus multæ desertæ fuerint, grandes et pulchræ, absque habitatore.