Isaiah 34
New American Standard Bible
God’s Wrath against Nations
34 Come near, (A)you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples!
(B)Let the earth and [a]all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
2 For the Lord’s (C)anger is against all the nations,
And His wrath against all their armies.
He has [b](D)utterly destroyed them,
He has turned them over to (E)slaughter.
3 So their slain will be (F)thrown out,
And their corpses [c]will give off their (G)stench,
And the mountains will [d]be drenched with their (H)blood.
4 And (I)all the heavenly [e]lights will [f]wear away,
And the (J)sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All its [g]lights will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
Or as one withers from the fig tree.
5 For (K)My sword has drunk its fill in heaven;
Behold it shall descend for judgment upon (L)Edom,
And upon the people whom I have (M)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 (N)Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of (O)Edom.
7 (P)Wild oxen will also [h]fall with them
And (Q)young bulls with strong ones;
So their land will be (R)soaked with blood,
And their dust [i]become greasy with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of (S)vengeance,
A year of retribution for the [j]cause of Zion.
9 [k]Its streams will be turned into pitch,
And its loose earth into (T)brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
10 It will (U)not be extinguished night or day;
Its (V)smoke will go up forever.
From (W)generation to generation it will be desolate;
(X)None will pass through it forever and ever.
11 But [l](Y)pelican and hedgehog will possess it,
And [m]owl and raven will dwell in it;
And He will stretch over it the (Z)line of [n]desolation
And the [o]plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is (AA)no one there
Whom they may proclaim king—
And all its officials will be (AB)nothing.
13 Thorns will come up in its (AC)fortified towers,
Weeds and thistles in its fortified cities;
It will also be a haunt of (AD)jackals
And a habitat of ostriches.
14 The desert (AE)creatures will meet with the [p]wolves,
The [q](AF)goat also will cry to its kind.
Yes, the [r]night-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 [s]protection.
Yes, (AG)the [t]hawks will be gathered there,
Every one with its kind.
16 Seek from the (AH)book of the Lord, and read:
Not one of these will be missing;
None will lack its mate.
For [u](AI)His mouth has commanded,
And His Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the (AJ)lot for them,
And His hand has divided it to them by the (AK)measuring line.
They shall possess it forever;
From (AL)generation to generation they will dwell in it.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:1 Lit its fullness
- Isaiah 34:2 Lit put under the ban
- Isaiah 34:3 Lit their stench will go up
- Isaiah 34:3 Lit dissolve
- Isaiah 34:4 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
- Isaiah 34:4 Lit rot
- Isaiah 34:4 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
- Isaiah 34:7 Lit go down
- Isaiah 34:7 Lit made fat
- Isaiah 34:8 Or controversy
- Isaiah 34:9 I.e., Edom’s
- Isaiah 34:11 Or owl; or jackdaw
- Isaiah 34:11 Or great horned owl
- Isaiah 34:11 Or formlessness
- Isaiah 34:11 Lit stones of void
- Isaiah 34:14 Or howling creatures
- Isaiah 34:14 Or goat demon
- Isaiah 34:14 Or a demon; Heb Lilith
- Isaiah 34:15 Lit shade
- Isaiah 34:15 Or kites
- Isaiah 34:16 As in DSS; MT My
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)
Isaiah 34
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
34 Come near, ye Gentiles, and hear, and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein, the world, and every thing that cometh forth of it.
2 For the indignation of the Lord if upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath killed them, and delivered them to slaughter.
3 Their slain shall be cast forth, and out of their carcasses shall rise a slink: the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 And all the host of the heavens shall pine away, and the heavens shall be folded together as a book: and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth from the vine, and from the fig tree.
5 For my sword is inebriated in heaven: behold it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my slaughter unto judgment.
6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made thick with the blood of lambs and buck goats, with the blood of rams full of marrow: for there is a victim of the Lord in Bosra and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 And the unicorns shall go down with them, and the bulls with the mighty: their land shall be soaked with blood, and their ground with the fat of fat ones.
8 For it is the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of recompenses of the judgment of Sion.
9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the ground thereof into brimstone: and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
10 Night and day it shall not be quenched, the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste, none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11 The bittern and ericius shall possess it: and the ibis and the raven shall dwell in it: and a line shall be stretched out upon it, to bring it to nothing, and a plummet, unto desolation.
12 The nobles thereof shall not be there: they shall call rather upon the king, and all the princes thereof shall be nothing.
13 And thorns and nettles shall grow up in its houses, and the thistle in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be the habitation of dragons, and the pasture of ostriches.
14 And demons and monsters shall meet, and the hairy ones shall cry out one to another, there hath the lamia lain down, and found rest for herself.
15 There hath the ericius had its hole, and brought up its young ones, and hath dug round about, and cherished them in the shadow thereof: thither are the kites gathered together one to another.
16 Search ye diligently in the book of the Lord, and read: not one of them was wanting, one hath not sought for the other: for that which proceedeth out of my mouth, he hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it to them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation they shall dwell therein.
Isaiah 34
The Message
The Fires Burning Day and Night
34 Draw in close now, nations. Listen carefully,
you people. Pay attention!
Earth, you, too, and everything in you.
World, and all that comes from you.
2-4 And here’s why: God is angry,
good and angry with all the nations,
So blazingly angry at their arms and armies
that he’s going to rid earth of them, wipe them out.
The corpses, thrown in a heap,
will stink like the town dump in midsummer,
Their blood flowing off the mountains
like creeks in spring runoff.
Stars will fall out of the sky
like overripe, rotting fruit in the orchard,
And the sky itself will be folded up like a blanket
and put away in a closet.
All that army of stars, shriveled to nothing,
like leaves and fruit in autumn, dropping and rotting!
5-7 “Once I’ve finished with earth and sky,
I’ll start in on Edom.
I’ll come down hard on Edom,
a people I’ve slated for total termination.”
God has a sword, thirsty for blood and more blood,
a sword hungry for well-fed flesh,
Lamb and goat blood,
the suet-rich kidneys of rams.
Yes, God has scheduled a sacrifice in Bozrah, the capital,
the whole country of Edom a slaughterhouse.
A wholesale slaughter, wild animals
and farm animals alike slaughtered.
The whole country soaked with blood,
all the ground greasy with fat.
8-15 It’s God’s scheduled time for vengeance,
the year all Zion’s accounts are settled.
Edom’s streams will flow sluggish, thick with pollution,
the soil sterile, poisoned with waste,
The whole country
a smoking, stinking garbage dump—
The fires burning day and night,
the skies black with endless smoke.
Generation after generation of wasteland—
no more travelers through this country!
Vultures and skunks will police the streets;
owls and crows will feel at home there.
God will reverse creation. Chaos!
He will cancel fertility. Emptiness!
Leaders will have no one to lead.
They’ll name it No Kingdom There,
A country where all kings
and princes are unemployed.
Thistles will take over, covering the castles,
fortresses conquered by weeds and thornbushes.
Wild dogs will prowl the ruins,
ostriches have the run of the place.
Wildcats and hyenas will hunt together,
demons and devils dance through the night.
The night-demon Lilith, evil and rapacious,
will establish permanent quarters.
Scavenging carrion birds will breed and brood,
infestations of ominous evil.
16-17 Get and read God’s book:
None of this is going away,
this breeding, brooding evil.
God has personally commanded it all.
His Spirit set it in motion.
God has assigned them their place,
decreed their fate in detail.
This is permanent—
generation after generation, the same old thing.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson