Isaiah 34

God’s Wrath against Nations

1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples!

Let the earth and *34:1 Lit its fullnessall it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.

2 For the Lord’s anger is against all the nations,

And His wrath against all their armies.

He has *34:2 Lit put under the banutterly destroyed them,

He has turned them over to slaughter.

3 So their slain will be thrown out,

And their corpses *34:3 Lit their stench will go upwill give off their stench,

And the mountains will *34:3 Lit dissolvebe drenched with their blood.

4 And all the heavenly *34:4 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.lights will *34:4 Lit rotwear away,

And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;

All its *34:4 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.lights will also wither away

As a leaf withers from the vine,

Or as one withers from the fig tree.

5 For My sword has drunk its fill in heaven;

Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom,

And upon the people whom I have designated for destruction.

6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,

It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,

With the fat of the kidneys of rams.

For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,

And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7 Wild oxen will also *34:7 Lit go downfall with them

And young bulls with strong ones;

So their land will be soaked with blood,

And their dust *34:7 Lit made fatbecome greasy with fat.

8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,

A year of retribution for the *34:8 Or controversycause of Zion.

9 * 34:9 I.e., Edom’s Its streams will be turned into pitch,

And its loose earth into brimstone,

And its land will become burning pitch.

10 It will not be extinguished night or day;

Its smoke will go up forever.

From generation to generation it will be desolate;

None will pass through it forever and ever.

11 But *34:11 Or owl; or jackdawpelican and hedgehog will possess it,

And *34:11 Or great horned owlowl and raven will dwell in it;

And He will stretch over it the line of *34:11 Or formlessnessdesolation

And the *34:11 Lit stones of voidplumb line of emptiness.

12 Its nobles—there is no one there

Whom they may proclaim king—

And all its officials will be nothing.

13 Thorns will come up in its fortified towers,

Weeds and thistles in its fortified cities;

It will also be a haunt of jackals

And a habitat of ostriches.

14 The desert creatures will meet with the *34:14 Or howling creatureswolves,

The *34:14 Or goat demongoat also will cry to its kind.

Yes, the *34:14 Or a demon; Heb Lilithnight-bird will settle there

And will find herself a resting place.

15 The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there,

And it will hatch and gather them under its *34:15 Lit shadeprotection.

Yes, the *34:15 Or kiteshawks will be gathered there,

Every one with its kind.

16 Seek from the book of the Lord, and read:

Not one of these will be missing;

None will lack its mate.

For *34:16 As in DSS; MT MyHis mouth has commanded,

And His Spirit has gathered them.

17 He has cast the lot for them,

And His hand has divided it to them by the measuring line.

They shall possess it forever;

From generation to generation they will dwell in it.