⁵ My sword^(P) has drunk its fill in the heavens;
    see, it descends in judgment on Edom,^(Q)
    the people I have totally destroyed.^(R)
6 The sword^(S) of the Lord is bathed in blood,
    it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
    fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice^(T) in Bozrah^(U)
    and a great slaughter^(V) in the land of Edom.
⁷ And the wild oxen^(W) will fall with them,
    the bull calves and the great bulls.^(X)
Their land will be drenched with blood,^(Y)
    and the dust will be soaked with fat.

⁸ For the Lord has a day^(Z) of vengeance,^(AA)
    a year of retribution,^(AB) to uphold Zion’s cause.
⁹ Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
    her dust into burning sulfur;^(AC)
    her land will become blazing pitch!
¹⁰ It will not be quenched^(AD) night or day;
    its smoke will rise forever.^(AE)
From generation to generation^(AF) it will lie desolate;^(AG)
    no one will ever pass through it again.
¹¹ The desert owl^[b](AH) and screech owl^[c] will possess it;
    the great owl^[d] and the raven^(AI) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom^(AJ)
    the measuring line of chaos^(AK)
    and the plumb line^(AL) of desolation.
¹² Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
    all her princes^(AM) will vanish^(AN) away.
¹³ Thorns^(AO) will overrun her citadels,
    nettles and brambles her strongholds.^(AP)
She will become a haunt for jackals,^(AQ)
    a home for owls.^(AR)
14 Desert creatures^(AS) will meet with hyenas,^(AT)
    and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures^(AU) will also lie down
    and find for themselves places of rest.
¹⁵ The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
    she will hatch them, and care for her young
    under the shadow of her wings;^(AV)
there also the falcons^(AW) will gather,
    each with its mate.

None of these will be missing,^(AY)
    not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth^(AZ) that has given the order,^(BA)
    and his Spirit will gather them together.
¹⁷ He allots their portions;^(BB)
    his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
    and dwell there from generation to generation.^(BC)

³ Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees^(BM) that give way;
⁴ say^(BN) to those with fearful hearts,^(BO)
    “Be strong, do not fear;^(BP)
your God will come,^(BQ)
    he will come with vengeance;^(BR)
with divine retribution
    he will come to save^(BS) you.”

⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened^(BT)
    and the ears of the deaf^(BU) unstopped.
⁶ Then will the lame^(BV) leap like a deer,^(BW)
    and the mute tongue^(BX) shout for joy.^(BY)
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams^(BZ) in the desert.
⁷ The burning sand will become a pool,
    the thirsty ground^(CA) bubbling springs.^(CB)
In the haunts where jackals^(CC) once lay,
    grass and reeds^(CD) and papyrus will grow.

⁸ And a highway^(CE) will be there;
    it will be called the Way of Holiness;^(CF)
    it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean^(CG) will not journey on it;
    wicked fools will not go about on it.
⁹ No lion^(CH) will be there,
    nor any ravenous beast;^(CI)
    they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed^(CJ) will walk there,
¹⁰     and those the Lord has rescued^(CK) will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;^(CL)
    everlasting joy^(CM) will crown their heads.
Gladness^(CN) and joy will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.^(CO)

“I am planning disaster^(G) against this people,
    from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,^(H)
    for it will be a time of calamity.
⁴ In that day people will ridicule you;
    they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;^(I)
    my people’s possession is divided up.^(J)
He takes it from me!
    He assigns our fields to traitors.’”

⁵ Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
    to divide the land^(K) by lot.^(L)

“Do not my words do good^(O)
    to the one whose ways are upright?^(P)
8 Lately my people have risen up
    like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
    from those who pass by without a care,
    like men returning from battle.
⁹ You drive the women of my people
    from their pleasant homes.^(Q)
You take away my blessing
    from their children forever.
¹⁰ Get up, go away!
    For this is not your resting place,^(R)
because it is defiled,^(S)
    it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
¹¹ If a liar and deceiver^(T) comes and says,
    ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’^(U)
    that would be just the prophet for this people!^(V)

“Listen, you leaders^(AA) of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
²     you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;^(AB)
3 who eat my people’s flesh,^(AC)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;^(AD)
who chop^(AE) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?^(AF)”

⁴ Then they will cry out to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them.^(AG)
At that time he will hide his face^(AH) from them
    because of the evil they have done.^(AI)

“As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,^(AJ)
they proclaim ‘peace’^(AK)
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
⁶ Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.^(AL)
The sun will set for the prophets,^(AM)
    and the day will go dark for them.^(AN)
7 The seers will be ashamed^(AO)
    and the diviners disgraced.^(AP)
They will all cover^(AQ) their faces^(AR)
    because there is no answer from God.^(AS)”
⁸ But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.^(AT)

⁹ Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;^(AU)
10 who build^(AV) Zion with bloodshed,^(AW)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.^(AX)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,^(AY)
    her priests teach for a price,^(AZ)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.^(BA)
Yet they look^(BB) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”^(BC)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,^(BD)
    the temple^(BE) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.^(BF)

the mountain^(BH) of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,^(BI)
    and peoples will stream to it.^(BJ)

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,^(BK)
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.^(BL)
He will teach us^(BM) his ways,^(BN)
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law^(BO) will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
³ He will judge between many peoples
    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.^(BP)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.^(BQ)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war^(BR) anymore.^(BS)
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
    and under their own fig tree,^(BT)
and no one will make them afraid,^(BU)
    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.^(BV)
5 All the nations may walk
    in the name of their gods,^(BW)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
    our God for ever and ever.^(BX)

“I will gather the lame;^(BY)
    I will assemble the exiles^(BZ)
    and those I have brought to grief.^(CA)
7 I will make the lame my remnant,^(CB)
    those driven away a strong nation.^(CC)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion^(CD)
    from that day and forever.^(CE)
8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,
    stronghold^[b] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored^(CF) to you;
    kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.^(CG)”

⁹ Why do you now cry aloud—
    have you no king^[c](CH)?
Has your ruler^[d] perished,
    that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?^(CI)
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
    to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;^(CJ)
    there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem^(CK) you
    out of the hand of your enemies.

¹¹ But now many nations
    are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
    let our eyes gloat^(CL) over Zion!”
¹² But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,^(CM)
    that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
¹³ “Rise and thresh,^(CN) Daughter Zion,
    for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
    and you will break to pieces many nations.”^(CO)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,^(CP)
    their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

² “But you, Bethlehem^(CR) Ephrathah,^(CS)
    though you are small among the clans^[f] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler^(CT) over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,^(CU)
    from ancient times.”^(CV)

³ Therefore Israel will be abandoned^(CW)
    until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
    to join the Israelites.

⁴ He will stand and shepherd his flock^(CX)
    in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness^(CY)
    will reach to the ends of the earth.

⁵ And he will be our peace^(CZ)
    when the Assyrians invade^(DA) our land
    and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
    even eight commanders,^(DB)
6 who will rule^[g] the land of Assyria with the sword,
    the land of Nimrod^(DC) with drawn sword.^[h](DD)
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
    when they invade our land
    and march across our borders.^(DE)

⁷ The remnant^(DF) of Jacob will be
    in the midst of many peoples
like dew^(DG) from the Lord,
    like showers on the grass,^(DH)
which do not wait for anyone
    or depend on man.
⁸ The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
    in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,^(DI)
    like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles^(DJ) as it goes,
    and no one can rescue.^(DK)
9 Your hand will be lifted up^(DL) in triumph over your enemies,
    and all your foes will be destroyed.

“I will destroy your horses from among you
    and demolish your chariots.^(DM)
11 I will destroy the cities^(DN) of your land
    and tear down all your strongholds.^(DO)
12 I will destroy your witchcraft
    and you will no longer cast spells.^(DP)
13 I will destroy your idols^(DQ)
    and your sacred stones from among you;^(DR)
you will no longer bow down
    to the work of your hands.^(DS)
14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles^[i](DT)
    when I demolish your cities.
¹⁵ I will take vengeance^(DU) in anger and wrath
    on the nations that have not obeyed me.”