The scene shifts here to the destruction of cities and their closed houses.

The city of chaos is broken down: The city of chaos is an unusual expression. The Hebrew word rendered chaos is one of the terms used in Gen 1.2 (where it is rendered “without form”) to refer to the state of the world before God brought order to it in creation. It can refer to desolation, confusion, shapelessness, or worthlessness. The city of chaos could refer to a city that causes chaos or a city that is in chaos. The literal rendering in Revised Standard Version fails to clarify what it means (also New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible). But most versions consulted read the expression to mean that the city itself is in chaos or empty; for example, for the whole line Good News Translation has “In the city everything is in chaos,” New International Version says “The ruined city lies desolate,” and Revised English Bible reads “The city is shattered and in chaos.” The footnotes in New Jerusalem Bible and the GNB Study Bible believe only one city is in view here, but its identity is unknown. However, in this context of the whole earth it is better to refer to all the cities where people live. Contemporary English Version does this by saying “Towns are crushed and in chaos.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is similar with “Towns are broken, empty.” The verb is broken down underlines the collapse of these cities.

Every house is shut up so that none can enter: This could mean people who fled boarded up their homes from the outside to prevent other people from entering them, or people who stayed locked themselves inside for safety (so Good News Translation). For languages that cannot use the passive verb is shut up here, translators may say “all the people have closed up their houses so that no one can enter them.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• The desolate cities have been destroyed,
each house has been locked so no one can enter.

• The devastated cities lie in ruins,
people everywhere have locked their houses so none may enter.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .