审判列国

34 列国啊,近前来听吧!

列邦啊,留心听吧!
大地和地上的万物、世界和世上的一切都要听。
因为耶和华向列国发怒,
向他们的军队发烈怒。
祂要毁灭他们,杀尽他们。
他们必暴尸在外,
臭气熏天,
血浸山岭。
天上的万象必融化,
穹苍像书卷卷起;
星辰陨落,
像凋零的葡萄叶,
又像枯落的无花果。
耶和华的刀剑在天上饱饮了血后,
必降下来惩罚以东——祂决意要毁灭的民族。
祂的刀沾满了血和脂肪,
如同羊羔、公山羊的血和公绵羊肾脏上的脂肪。
因为耶和华要在波斯拉献祭,
在以东大行杀戮。
他们像野牛、牛犊和公牛一样倒下。
他们的土地被血浸透,
土壤被脂肪覆盖。
因为这是耶和华报应的日子,
是祂为锡安报仇之年。
以东的河流要变为沥青,
土壤要变成硫磺,
大地要成为燃烧的沥青,
10 昼夜燃烧,浓烟滚滚,
永不止息。
以东必世世代代荒废,
人踪绝迹。
11 鹈鹕和刺猬必占据那里,
猫头鹰和乌鸦必在那里做窝。
耶和华要用准绳和线锤丈量以东,
使它空虚混沌。
12 以东没有一个显贵可以做王,
那里所有的首领全都消失。

13 那里的宫殿荆棘丛生,
蒺藜、刺草遍布坚城,
成了野狗的巢穴和鸵鸟的住处。
14 在那里,豺狼和旷野的其他走兽出没,
野山羊对叫,
夜间的怪物栖息,
找到安歇之处。
15 猫头鹰要在那里做窝,
产卵,孵化,
把幼鸟保护在翅膀底下,
鸷鸟也成双成对地聚集在那里。

16 你们要去查考、阅读耶和华的书卷:
以上的动物一个也不会少,
无一缺少配偶。
因为这是耶和华亲口说的,
祂的灵必把它们聚在一起。
17 祂亲手为它们抽签,
用准绳为它们分地。
它们必永远占据那里,
世世代代住在那里。

34 Come near, you nations and hear! And listen, you people! Let the Earth hear and all that is therein, the world and all that proceeds from it.

For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and wrath upon all their armies. He has destroyed them, delivered them to the slaughter.

And their slain shall be cast out. And their stink shall come up out of their bodies. And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

And all the host of Heaven shall be dissolved. And the heavens shall be folded like a book. And all their hosts shall fall, as the leaf falls from the vine, and as it falls from the fig tree.

“For My sword shall be quenched in Heaven. Behold, it shall come down upon Edom, even upon the people of My curse, to judgment.”

The sword of the LORD is filled with blood. It prospers with the fat, with the blood of the lambs and the goats, with the fat of the kidneys of the rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

And the wild oxen shall come down with them, and the heifers with the bulls. And their land shall be drenched with blood, and their dust made to prosper with fatness.

For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the judgment of Zion.

And its rivers shall be turned into tar, and its dust into brimstone. And its land shall be burning tar.

10 It shall not be quenched, night or day. Its smoke shall go up forever. It shall be desolate from generation to generation. No one shall pass through it, forever and ever.

11 But the pelican and the hedgehog shall possess it. And the great owl and the raven shall dwell in it. And He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.

12 Its nobles shall call to the kingdom and there shall be none. And all its princes shall be nothing.

13 And it shall bring forth thorns in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its strongholds. And it shall be a home for serpents, and a court for unclean birds.

14 Also, the wild beasts of the desert shall meet the jackals there. And the wild goat shall cry to his companion. And the night demon shall rest there and shall find for herself a quiet dwelling.

15 There shall the owl make her nest and lay and hatch and gather them under her shadow. There shall the vultures also be gathered, each one with her mate.

16 Seek in the Book of the LORD and read. None of these shall fail. None shall want for a mate. For His Mouth has Commanded, and His very Spirit has gathered them.

17 And He has cast the lot for them. And His Hand has divided to them by line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation shall they dwell in it.

Judgment Against the Nations

34 Come near, you nations, and listen;(A)
    pay attention, you peoples!(B)
Let the earth(C) hear, and all that is in it,
    the world, and all that comes out of it!(D)
The Lord is angry with all nations;
    his wrath(E) is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy[a](F) them,
    he will give them over to slaughter.(G)
Their slain(H) will be thrown out,
    their dead bodies(I) will stink;(J)
    the mountains will be soaked with their blood.(K)
All the stars in the sky will be dissolved(L)
    and the heavens rolled up(M) like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall(N)
    like withered(O) leaves from the vine,
    like shriveled figs from the fig tree.

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)
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.
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.

For the Lord has a day(Z) of vengeance,(AA)
    a year of retribution,(AB) to uphold Zion’s cause.
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.

16 Look in the scroll(AX) of the Lord and read:

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)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.
  2. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  3. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  4. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.