Isaiah 34
Common English Bible
Vengeance against Edom
34 Draw near, you nations, to hear;
and listen, you peoples.
Hear, earth and all who fill it,
world and all its offspring.
2 The Lord rages against all the nations,
and is angry with all their armies.
God is about to wipe them out
and has prepared them for slaughter.
3 Their dead will be cast out,
the stench of their corpses will rise,
and the mountains will melt from their blood.
4 All the stars of heaven will dissolve,
the skies will roll up like a scroll,
and all the stars will fall,
like a leaf withering from a vine,
like fruit from a fig tree.
5 When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
it will descend upon Edom for judgment,
upon a people I have doomed for destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword covered with blood;
it is soaked with fat
from the blood of lambs and goats,
from the kidney fat of rams,
for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Wild oxen will fall with them,
steers with mighty bulls,
and their land will be drenched with blood;
its soil soaked with fat.
8 The Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of payback for Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
its dust into sulfur,
and its land will become burning pitch.
10 Night and day won’t be extinguished;
its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will lie waste;
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 Screech owls and crows will possess it;
owls and ravens will live there.[a]
God will stretch over it the measuring line of chaos
and the plummet stone of emptiness over its officials.
12 No Kingdom There, they will call it,
and all its princes will disappear.
13 Thorns will grow up in its palaces,
weeds and brambles in its fortresses.
It will be a dwelling for jackals,
a home for ostriches.
14 Wildcats will meet hyenas,
the goat demon will call to his friends,
and there Lilith[b] will lurk
and find her resting place.
15 There the snake will nest and lay eggs
and brood and hatch in its shadow.
There too vultures will gather,
each with its mate.[c]
16 Consult the Lord’s scroll and read:
Not one of these will be missing;
none will lack its mate.
God’s own mouth has commanded;
God’s own spirit has gathered them.
17 God has cast the lot for them;
God’s hand allotted it to them with the measuring line.
They will possess it forever;
they will live in it from generation to generation.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:11 Species uncertain
- Isaiah 34:14 Name of a demon
- Isaiah 34:15 Species uncertain
Isaiah 34
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Judgment on the Nations
34 Draw near, O nations, to hear;
O peoples, give heed!
Let the earth hear and all that fills it,
the world and all that comes from it.(A)
2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations
and furious against all their hordes;
he has doomed them, has given them over for slaughter.(B)
3 Their slain shall be cast out,
and the stench of their corpses shall rise;
the mountains shall flow with their blood.(C)
4 All the host of heaven shall rot away,
and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall wither
like a leaf withering on a vine
or fruit withering on a fig tree.(D)
5 When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
upon Edom it will fall,
upon the people I have doomed to judgment.(E)
6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood;
it is gorged 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,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.(F)
7 Wild oxen shall fall with them
and young steers with the mighty bulls.
Their land shall be soaked with blood,
and their soil made rich with fat.(G)
8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of vindication for Zion’s cause.[a](H)
9 And the streams of Edom[b] shall be turned into pitch
and her soil into sulfur;
her land shall become burning pitch.(I)
10 Night and day it shall not be quenched;
its smoke shall go up forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
no one shall pass through it forever and ever.(J)
11 But the desert owl[c] and the screech owl[d] shall possess it;
the great owl and the raven shall live in it.
He shall stretch the line of confusion
and the plummet of chaos over it.(K)
12 They shall call its nobles No Kingdom There,
and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of jackals,
an abode for ostriches.(L)
14 Wildcats shall meet with hyenas;
goat-demons shall call to each other;
there also Lilith shall repose
and find a place to rest.(M)
15 There shall the owl nest
and lay and hatch and brood in its shadow;
there also the buzzards shall gather,
each one with its mate.(N)
16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord:
Not one of these shall be missing;
none shall be without its mate.
For his mouth, it has commanded,
and his spirit, it has gathered them.(O)
17 He has cast the lot for them;
his hand has portioned it out to them with the line.
[[They shall possess it;
from generation to generation they shall live in it.(P)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.