Isaiah 13:21
New International Version
But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about.

New Living Translation
Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance.

English Standard Version
But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance.

Berean Standard Bible
But desert creatures will lie down there, and howling creatures will fill her houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, And wild goats will caper there.

New American Standard Bible
But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.

NASB 1995
But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.

NASB 1977
But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls, Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.

Legacy Standard Bible
But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will dwell there, and shaggy goats will leap there.

Amplified Bible
But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and wild goats will dance there.

Christian Standard Bible
But desert creatures will lie down there, and owls will fill the houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But desert creatures will lie down there, and owls will fill the houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about.

American Standard Version
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But animals shall lie down there, and their houses shall be filled with echoes, and the daughters of ostriches shall dwell there, and evil spirits shall dance there

Brenton Septuagint Translation
But wild beasts shall rest there; and the houses shall be filled with howling; and monsters shall rest there, and devils shall dance there,

Contemporary English Version
Only desert creatures, hoot owls, and ostriches will live in its ruins, and goats will leap about.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with serpents, and ostriches shall dwell there, and the hairy ones shall dance there:

English Revised Version
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Desert animals will lie down there. Their homes will be full of owls. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will skip about.

Good News Translation
It will be a place where desert animals live and where owls build their nests. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will prance through the ruins.

International Standard Version
But desert beasts will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there owls will dwell, and goat-demons will dance there.

JPS Tanakh 1917
But wild-cats shall lie there; And their houses shall be full of ferrets; And ostriches shall dwell there, And satyrs shall dance there.

Literal Standard Version
And desert-dwellers have lain down there, | And their houses have been full of howlers, | And daughters of an ostrich have dwelt there, | And goats skip there.

Majority Standard Bible
But desert creatures will lie down there, and howling creatures will fill her houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about.

New American Bible
But desert demons shall rest there and owls shall fill the houses; There ostriches shall dwell, and satyrs shall dance.

NET Bible
Wild animals will rest there, the ruined houses will be full of hyenas. Ostriches will live there, wild goats will skip among the ruins.

New Revised Standard Version
But wild animals will lie down there, and its houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will live, and there goat-demons will dance.

New Heart English Bible
But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there.

Young's Literal Translation
And Ziim have lain down there, And full have been their houses of howlings, And dwelt there have daughters of an ostrich, And goats do skip there.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
An Oracle Concerning Babylon
20She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there. 21But desert creatures will lie down there, and howling creatures will fill her houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about. 22Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.…

Cross References
Revelation 18:2
And he cried out in a mighty voice: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast.

Isaiah 23:13
Look at the land of the Chaldeans--a people now of no account. The Assyrians destined it for the desert creatures; they set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces. They brought it to ruin.

Isaiah 32:14
For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever--the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks--

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.

Isaiah 34:14
The desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and one wild goat will call to another. There the night creature will settle and find her place of repose.

Jeremiah 50:39
So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there and ostriches will dwell there. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.

Micah 1:8
Because of this I will lament and wail; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.


Treasury of Scripture

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.

but

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…

Revelation 18:2
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

wild beasts.

Jump to Previous
Animals Beasts Creatures Crying Dance Dancing Daughters Desert Doleful Dwell Dwelt Evil Fill Frolic Full Goats Holes Houses Howling Howlings Jackals Lie Ostrich Ostriches Owls Satyrs Shaggy Spirits Waste Wild Wild-Cats Ziim
Jump to Next
Animals Beasts Creatures Crying Dance Dancing Daughters Desert Doleful Dwell Dwelt Evil Fill Frolic Full Goats Holes Houses Howling Howlings Jackals Lie Ostrich Ostriches Owls Satyrs Shaggy Spirits Waste Wild Wild-Cats Ziim
Isaiah 13
1. God musters the armies of his wrath
6. He threatens to destroy Babylon by the Medes
19. The desolation of Babylon














(21) Wild beasts of the desert . . .--The Hebrew term, which in Psalm 72:9, and perhaps in Isaiah 23:13, is used of men, has been rendered by "wild cats," but is probably generic, the fer? natur? that haunt such desolate regions. The "doleful creatures" (literally groaners) are probably "horned owls;" while the word rendered "owls (literally, daughters of screaming) may be taken as ostriches (Job 39:13-18). In the "satyrs" (literally, hairy or shaggy ones) we may find either "goats (as in Leviticus 4:24; Leviticus 16:9), or, as the English version suggests, a mythical form of grotesque animal life (the "demons" or "devils" of Leviticus 17:7; 2Chronicles 11:15, a goat-shaped form, like that of the Greek Pan), or more probably (with Tristram), the species of baboon (Macacus Arabicus) still found in Babylonia. . . . Verse 21. - Wild beasts of the desert shall lie there. It is not quite clear what particular wild beasts are intended. Those actually noted on the site of Babylon are lions, jackals, and porcupines. These sometimes make their lairs in the ruins (Rich, 'First Memoir,' p. 69; Ker Porter, 'Travels,' vol. 2. p. 342). Doleful creatures; in the original, okhim. What animal is meant we cannot say, as the word occurs only in this passage. Mr. Cheyne translates it by "hyenas." Owls shall dwell there; literally, daughters of the owl (as in Leviticus 11:16; Deuteronomy 14:15; Job 30:29; Jeremiah 50:39; Micah 1:8; and infra, Isaiah 34:13; Isaiah 43:20). Mr. Rich says, "In most of the cavities of the Babil Mound there are numbers of owls and bats." Sir A. Layard," A large grey owl is found in great numbers, frequently in flocks of nearly a hundred, in the low shrubs among the ruins of Babylon" ('Nin. and Bab.,' p. 484, note). Satyrs shall dance there. The word translated "satyr" is, etymologically, "hairy one," and ordinarily means "a goat." Some have supposed "wild goats" to be here intended, but they are not found in Babylonia. The translation "satyr" is defended by many, who think Isaiah might draw upon current beliefs for some features of his description. Dr. Kay gives "baboons," since the Moko - a kind of baboon - is known in Babylonia.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
But desert creatures
צִיִּ֔ים (ṣî·yîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6728: Wild beast of the desert, that dwell in inhabiting the wilderness

will lie down
וְרָבְצוּ־ (wə·rā·ḇə·ṣū-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7257: To crouch, be implication, to recline, repose, brood, lurk, imbed

there,
שָׁ֣ם (šām)
Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

and howling creatures
אֹחִ֑ים (’ō·ḥîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 255: A howler, lonesome wild animal

will fill
וּמָלְא֥וּ (ū·mā·lə·’ū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 4390: To fill, be full of

her houses.
בָתֵּיהֶ֖ם (ḇāt·tê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1004: A house

The owls
בְּנ֣וֹת (bə·nō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 1323: A daughter

will dwell
וְשָׁ֤כְנוּ (wə·šā·ḵə·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7931: To settle down, abide, dwell

there,
שָׁם֙ (šām)
Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

and wild goats
וּשְׂעִירִ֖ים (ū·śə·‘î·rîm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8163: Shaggy, a he-goat, a faun

will leap about.
יְרַקְּדוּ־ (yə·raq·qə·ḏū-)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7540: To stamp, to spring about


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 13:21 But wild animals of the desert will (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 13:20
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