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The Nations Will Be Judged

34 Everyone of every nation,
    the entire earth,
and all its creatures,
    come here and listen!
The Lord is terribly angry
    with the nations;
he has condemned them
    to be slaughtered.
Their dead bodies will be left
    to rot and stink;
their blood will flow
    down the mountains.
(A) Each star[a] will disappear—
the sky will roll up
    like a scroll.[b]
Everything in the sky
    will dry up and wilt
like leaves on a vine
    or fruit on a tree.

Trouble for Edom

(B) After the sword of the Lord
has done what it wants
    to the skies above,[c]
it will come down on Edom,
the nation that the Lord
    has doomed for destruction.

The sword of the Lord
is covered with blood
    from lambs and goats,
together with fat
    from kidneys of rams.
This is because the Lord
    will slaughter many people
and make a sacrifice of them
    in the city of Bozrah
and everywhere else
    in Edom.
Edom's leaders are wild oxen.
They are powerful bulls,
    but they will die
    with the others.
Their country will be soaked
    with their own blood,
and its soil made fertile
    with their own fat.

The Lord has chosen
    the year and the day,
when he will take revenge
    and come to Zion's defense.
Edom's streams will turn into tar
    and its soil into sulfur—
then the whole country
    will go up in flames.
10 (C) It will burn night and day
    and never stop smoking.
Edom will be a desert,
    generation after generation;
no one will ever travel
    through that land.
11 Owls, hawks, and wild animals[d]
    will make it their home.
God will leave it in ruins,
    merely a pile of rocks.

The End of Edom

12 Edom will be called
    “Kingdom of Nothing.”
Its rulers will also be nothing.
13 Its palaces and fortresses
    will be covered with thorns;
only wolves and ostriches
    will make their home there.
14 Wildcats and hyenas
    will hunt together,
demons will scream to demons,
and creatures of the night
    will live among the ruins.
15 Owls will nest there
to raise their young
    among its shadows,[e]
while families of vultures
    circle around.

16 In The Book of the Lord[f]
you can search and find
    where it is written,
“The Lord brought together
    all of his creatures
by the power of his Spirit.
    Not one is missing.”
17 The Lord has decided
    where they each should live;
they will be there forever,
    generation after generation.

Footnotes

  1. 34.4 star: Stars were worshiped as gods.
  2. 34.4 scroll: A roll of paper or specially prepared leather used for writing on.
  3. 34.5 has done … above: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls “appears in the skies above.”
  4. 34.11 Owls … animals: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  5. 34.15 Owls … shadows: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  6. 34.16 The Book of the Lord: The book that Isaiah refers to is unknown.

Judgment on the Nations

34 Come (A)near, you nations, to hear;
And heed, you people!
(B)Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
The world and all things that come forth from it.
For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations,
And His fury against all their armies;
He has utterly destroyed them,
He has given them over to the (C)slaughter.
Also their slain shall be thrown out;
(D)Their stench shall rise from their corpses,
And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
(E)All the host of heaven shall be dissolved,
And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll;
(F)All their host shall fall down
As the leaf falls from the vine,
And as (G)fruit falling from a fig tree.

“For (H)My sword shall be bathed in heaven;
Indeed it (I)shall come down on Edom,
And on the people of My curse, for judgment.
The (J)sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It is made [a]overflowing with fatness,
With the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For (K)the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
The wild oxen shall come down with them,
And the young bulls with the mighty bulls;
Their land shall be soaked with blood,
And their dust [b]saturated with fatness.”

For it is the day of the Lord’s (L)vengeance,
The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
(M)Its streams shall be turned into pitch,
And its dust into brimstone;
Its land shall become burning pitch.
10 It shall not be quenched night or day;
(N)Its smoke shall ascend forever.
(O)From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
No one shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 (P)But the [c]pelican and the [d]porcupine shall possess it,
Also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
And (Q)He shall stretch out over it
The line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.
12 They shall call its nobles to the kingdom,
But none shall be there, and all its princes shall be nothing.

13 And (R)thorns shall come up in its palaces,
Nettles and brambles in its fortresses;
(S)It shall be a habitation of jackals,
A courtyard for ostriches.
14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the [e]jackals,
And the wild goat shall bleat to its companion;
Also [f]the night creature shall rest there,
And find for herself a place of rest.
15 There the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs
And hatch, and gather them under her shadow;
There also shall the hawks be gathered,
Every one with her mate.

16 “Search from (T)the book of the Lord, and read:
Not one of these shall fail;
Not one shall lack her mate.
For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the lot for them,
And His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line.
They shall possess it forever;
From generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 34:6 Lit. fat
  2. Isaiah 34:7 Lit. made fat
  3. Isaiah 34:11 Or owl
  4. Isaiah 34:11 Or hedgehog
  5. Isaiah 34:14 Lit. howling creatures
  6. Isaiah 34:14 Heb. lilith

34 Apropiaţi-vă(A), neamuri, să auziţi! Popoare, luaţi aminte! S-asculte(B) pământul, el şi ce-l umple, lumea cu toate făpturile ei! Căci Domnul este mâniat pe toate neamurile şi plin de urgie pe toată oştirea lor: El le nimiceşte cu desăvârşire, le măcelăreşte de tot. Morţii lor sunt aruncaţi, trupurile lor moarte miros greu(C) şi se topesc munţii de sângele lor. Toată(D) oştirea cerurilor piere, cerurile sunt făcute sul(E) ca o carte şi(F) toată oştirea lor cade, cum cade frunza(G) de viţă, cum cade frunza de smochin. „Căci sabia(H) Mea – zice Domnul – s-a îmbătat în ceruri; iată, se(I) va pogorî asupra Edomului, asupra poporului, pe care l-am sortit nimicirii, ca să-l pedepsesc.” Sabia Domnului este plină de sânge, unsă cu grăsime, cu sângele mieilor şi ţapilor, cu grăsimea rărunchilor berbecilor; căci Domnul(J) ţine un praznic de jertfe la Boţra şi un mare măcel este în ţara Edomului. Bivolii cad împreună cu ei şi boii, împreună cu taurii; ţara lor se adapă cu sânge şi ţărâna se umple de grăsime. Căci este o zi de răzbunare(K) a Domnului, un an de răsplătire şi răzbunare pentru Sion. Pâraiele(L) Edomului se vor preface în smoală şi pulberea lui, în pucioasă; da, ţara lui va fi ca smoala care arde. 10 Nu se va stinge nici zi, nici noapte, şi fumul(M) lui se va înălţa în veci. Din(N) veac în veac va fi pustiit şi nimeni nu va trece prin el în veci de veci. 11 Ci(O) pelicanul şi ariciul îl vor stăpâni, bufniţa şi corbul îl vor locui. Se(P) va întinde peste el funia pustiirii şi cumpăna nimicirii. 12 Nu vor mai fi în el fruntaşi, ca să aleagă un împărat şi toţi voievozii lui vor fi nimiciţi. 13 În casele lui împărăteşti vor creşte spinii(Q); în cetăţuile lui, mărăcini şi urzici. Acolo(R) vor fi locuinţa şacalilor şi vizuina struţilor. 14 Fiarele din pustie se vor întâlni acolo cu câinii sălbatici şi ţapii păroşi se vor chema unii pe alţii. Acolo îşi va avea locuinţa năluca nopţii şi îşi va găsi un loc de odihnă. 15 Acolo îşi va face cuibul şarpele de noapte, îşi va pune ouăle, le va cloci şi îşi va strânge puii la umbra lui; acolo se vor strânge toţi ulii: fiecare la tovarăşul lui. 16 Căutaţi în cartea(S) Domnului şi citiţi! Niciuna din toate acestea nu va lipsi, nici una, nici alta nu va da greş, căci gura Domnului a poruncit lucrul acesta: Duhul Lui va strânge acele sălbăticiuni. 17 El a tras la sorţ pentru ele şi mâna Lui le-a împărţit cu funia de măsurat ţara aceasta: ele o vor stăpâni totdeauna şi o vor locui din veac în veac.