Bible Strands
Isaiah 34:10
It will not be quenched—day or night. Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever again pass through it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet pronounces irreversible ruin against Edom, following the description of its land turned to burning pitch. The declaration functions as a divine verdict delivered at the moment of national collapse.
The words — The Hebrew תִכְבֶּה (tikhbeh) means "it will be extinguished," negated by לֹא (lo') to declare perpetual combustion. The phrase לְעוֹלָם (le'olam) translates as "forever," anchoring the smoke's continuous ascent.
The thread — The motif of unquenchable fire and permanent desolation reappears in Revelation 19:3, Isaiah 13:20, and Isaiah 66:24. These passages consistently apply the imagery to divine judgment and irreversible ruin.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of finality, leaving no room for restoration or return. It requires the reader to confront the absolute consequence of rebellion against divine authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
Cross-references
- Revelation 19:3 And a second time they called out: “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises forever and ever.”
- 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 66:24 “As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”
- Malachi 1:3 but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
- Isaiah 1:31 The strong man will become tinder and his work will be a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the flames.
- Ezekiel 29:11 No foot of man or beast will pass through, and it will be uninhabited for forty years.
- Revelation 14:10 he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
- Revelation 18:18 and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.
- Isaiah 24:1 Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—
- Jeremiah 7:20 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the produce of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.