This verse describes the devastation of the physical land caused by the invading army. It mentions five geographical places specifically since a desert is literally “the Arabah” in Hebrew (see the comments below). Translators should consult a map for the location of these places.

The land mourns and languishes: This line gives a general description of what happened to the land of Judah and the area surrounding it. The verbs mourns and languishes were used in 24.4 and 7 to describe the earth and the vineyards respectively (see the comments there; see also the comments on “languish” at 16.8). These two verbs picture a desperate situation for the land. It weeps and is exhausted like the people. The idea of land mourning and being weary may be unusual in some languages. If so, a possible nonfigurative rendering is “The land dries up and withers.” Good News Translation also provides such a model.

Lebanon is confounded and withers away: Lebanon probably does not refer literally to the land itself but to the cedar trees for which it was famous (see the comments on 2.13), so Good News Translation says “The forests of Lebanon.” The Hebrew verb rendered confounded normally refers to the shame of a person (see 1.29, where it is rendered “blush”; see also 24.23). The idea of trees being ashamed may be unusual in some languages. If so, this verb may be rendered nonfiguratively as “dry up.” For the Hebrew verb rendered withers away, see the comments on 19.6, where it is translated “rot away.” This line says the cedar trees of Lebanon dry up and decay.

Sharon is like a desert: Sharon refers to the plain south of Mount Carmel, extending along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In biblical times it was an area of sandy soil with dense forests of oak trees as well as swampy areas. This area has become like a desert. As noted above, a desert translates a Hebrew word that is literally “the Arabah.” The Arabah refers to a valley, running south from the Sea of Galilee, down the Jordan Valley and on to the Gulf of Aqaba. Here the Arabah south of the Dead Sea is in view (see Deut 1.1). This area has minimal rainfall. So the prophet compares the swampy and forested area of Sharon on the coast to the dry and barren Arabah as another way to picture the devastation of the land.

And Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves: Bashan was a plain of Gilead, east of the Jordan Valley. It was famous for its oak trees and its fertile grazing land (see 2.13). Carmel is the forested mountain area that runs along the southern side of the Jezreel Valley (see the comments at 10.18). The trees in both these lush areas shake off their leaves. However, the phrase their leaves is not present in the Hebrew, so Revised English Bible, New American Bible, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh say “are stripped bare.” The Hebrew root used here usually describes something that is being shaken to empty out its contents. In this context most translations believe it refers to the trees losing their leaves. This interpretation is based on the parallel thought from the other lines in the verse. Some commentators think this is a description of the autumn season when many trees lose their leaves, but it is really a picture of what happens to trees when they are under stress due to a lack water. Translators may render the verb here with a more general sense, as Revised English Bible, New American Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh do; see the third example below.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• The country mourns and dries up.
Lebanon’s cedars are ashamed and decayed,
[the plain of] Sharon becomes like a desert,
and the trees in Bashan and Carmel lose their leaves.

• The land weeps and is weary.
Lebanon dries up and decays,
Sharon becomes like the Arabah,
Bashan and Carmel’s trees lose their leaves.

• The land weeps and is exhausted.
Lebanon is dry and decayed,
Sharon has become like the Arabah,
Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.

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 .