Thus says the Lord God: In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be built. ... And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. ... And they shall say, This land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities have become fortified and are inhabited. ... Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places and plant that which was desolate.
Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Again in this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ... In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that tells them, says the Lord.
And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.
And say unto it, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you most desolate. ... I will lay your cities waste and you shall be desolate, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste, and they shall know that I am the Lord. ... Because he has said, The river is mine and I have made it — behold therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. ... And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years.
(Teachings and Commandments) Section 82:32
Nevertheless, let the bishop go unto the City of New York, and also to the City of Albany, and also to the City of Boston, and warn the people of those cities with the sound of the gospel, with a loud voice, of the desolation and utter abolishment which awaits them if they do reject these things. ... For, if they do reject these things, the hour of their judgment is nigh and their house shall be left unto them desolate.
(Old Covenants) Leviticus 13:13
And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors. ... And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you, and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
For thus says the Lord God: When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall bring up the deep upon you and great waters shall cover you, when I shall bring you down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set you in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old with them that go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited, and I shall set glory in the land of the living, I will make you a terror and you shall be no more.
Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with anxiousness, and say unto the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiousness and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. ... And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
Thus says the Lord: Again there shall be heard in this place — which you say shall be desolate, without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast — the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endures for ever unto them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.
And now therefore thus says the Lord the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: Behold, I will gather them out of all countries to which I have driven them — in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath — and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely, and they shall be my people and I will be their God. ... And fields shall be bought in this land whereof you say, It is desolate without man or beast, it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. ... Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south; for I will cause their captivity to turn back, says the Lord.
And your altars shall be desolate and your images shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. ... In all your dwelling places, the cities shall be laid waste and the high places shall be desolate, that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished; and the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
In mine ears saith the Lord of Hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, and great and fair cities without inhabitant.
And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fullness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.
And he dwells in desolate cities and in houses which no man inhabits, which are ready to become heaps.
In my ears says the Lord of Hosts, Truly many houses shall be desolate, and great and fair cities without inhabitant.
Declare in Judah and publish in Jerusalem, and say, Blow the trumpet in the land, cry, gather together and say, Assemble yourselves and let us go into the fortified cities. ... He is gone forth from his place to make your land desolate and your cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy has said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession — therefore prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord God: Because they have made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people, therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. ... Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; therefore, thus says the Lord God: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession, with the joy of all their heart, with spiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
Behold, the noise of the report has come and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate and a den of dragons.
Thus will I make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passes out and him that returns. ... I will make you perpetual desolations and your cities shall not return.
(Old Covenants) Zephaniah 1:10
Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city. ... I have cut off the nations, their towers are desolate. ... Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is no inhabitant.
Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire. ... Your land, strangers devour it in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. ... And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No. ... The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword, and these cities shall go into captivity.
And it came to pass that in the latter end of the eighteenth year, those armies of robbers had prepared for battle, and began to come down, and to sally forth from the hills, and out of the mountains, and the wilderness, and their strong holds, and their secret places, and began to take possession of the lands, both which was in the land south and which was in the land north, and began to take possession of all the lands which had been deserted by the Nephites and the cities which had been left desolate. ... And the robbers could not exist save it were in the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites had left their lands desolate and had gathered their flocks, and their herds, and all their substance, and they were in one body.
And the city of Zarahemla did take fire; and the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea and the inhabitants thereof were drowned. ... And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city thereof, there became a great mountain. ... And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shook till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate. ... And there were some cities which remained, but the damage thereof was exceeding great, and there were many in them who were slain.