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Isaiah 34
EasyEnglish Bible
Isaiah 34
EasyEnglish Bible
God will punish his enemies
34 Come near to me, people of all nations.
Listen carefully, everyone!
All the earth, and everything that is in it,
listen to me!
Yes, the whole world, and all who live in it,
listen carefully!
2 The Lord is angry against all the nations
and all their armies.
He has decided to destroy them,
and that is what he will do.
3 Nobody will bury the dead bodies
of those who have died in battle.
The smell of their dead bodies will be everywhere.
Their blood will pour down the mountains.
4 The stars in the sky will slowly disappear.
The sky will close up like a book.
All the stars will fall,
like dry leaves that fall from a vine.
They will drop like figs from a fig tree,
when they become dry.
5 The Lord says,
‘My sword has finished its work in the skies.
Now it will come to punish Edom.
Those are the people that I have decided to destroy.’
6 The Lord's sword has blood all over it!
It is the blood of young sheep and goats.
It has the fat of meat on it.
It is the fat from sheep's kidneys.
Yes! The Lord is killing animals for a sacrifice in Bozrah.[a]
He will kill many people in Edom.
7 He will kill their wild oxen
and their young bulls.[b]
Blood will pour over Edom's land.
Fat will feed their soil.
8 The Lord has chosen a day for punishment.
It will be a time when he punishes Zion's enemies,
because they have attacked his people.
9 The water in Edom's streams will become tar.
Its soil will become sulphur.
Its whole land will become tar that is burning.
10 That fire will burn through the days and the nights.
Its smoke will always continue to rise up.
The land will be empty from one century to the next.
Nobody will ever travel through it again.
11 Owls, hawks and hedgehogs will live there,[c]
as well as all kinds of wild animals and wild birds.
The Lord will carefully measure the whole land,
so that he can destroy it.
It will become like an empty desert.
12 There will be no kingdom left for anyone to rule.
Edom's leaders and officers will all disappear.
13 Thorn bushes will grow over its palaces.
Bushes and weeds will grow over its strong cities.
Jackals and ostriches will make their homes in the land.
14 Wild animals and hyenas will meet there.
Wild goats will call out to each other.
The night monster will come there,
and she will find a place to stay.
15 Owls will build their nests there.
They will take care of their eggs
until the baby birds come out.
They will keep their babies safe under their wings.
Hawks will meet there too.
They will be together in pairs, male and female.
16 Read the Lord's book very carefully:
‘All these animals and birds will be there.
They will all be together in pairs.
The Lord himself has commanded what must happen.
His Spirit brings them all together.’
17 The Lord has decided where each one will live.
He measures a place for every kind of animal and bird.
The land will always belong to them to live in.
It will be their home from one century to the next.
Isaiah 34
New International Version
Isaiah 34
New International Version
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)
2 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)
3 Their slain(H) will be thrown out,
their dead bodies(I) will stink;(J)
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.(K)
4 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.
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.
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
- 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.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
Isaiah 34
English Standard Version
Isaiah 34
English Standard Version
Judgment on the Nations
34 Draw near, (A)O nations, to hear,
and give attention, O peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
the world, and all that comes from it.
2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,
and furious against all their host;
he has (B)devoted them to destruction,[a] has given them over for slaughter.
3 Their slain shall be cast out,
and (C)the stench of their corpses shall rise;
(D)the mountains shall flow with their blood.
4 (E)All the host of heaven shall rot away,
and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall fall,
as leaves fall from the vine,
like leaves falling from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
behold, it descends for judgment upon (F)Edom,
upon the people (G)I have devoted to destruction.
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.
(H)For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 (I)Wild oxen shall (J)fall with them,
and (K)young steers with (L)the mighty bulls.
Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
8 (M)For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9 (N)And the streams of Edom[b] shall be turned into pitch,
and her soil into sulfur;
her land shall become burning pitch.
10 Night and day (O)it shall not be quenched;
(P)its smoke shall go up forever.
(Q)From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
none shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 (R)But the hawk and the porcupine[c] shall possess it,
the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
(S)He shall stretch the line of (T)confusion[d] over it,
and the plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,
and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 (U)Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of (V)jackals,
an abode for ostriches.[e]
14 (W)And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
indeed, there the night bird[f] settles
and finds for herself a resting place.
15 There the owl nests and lays
and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;
indeed, there (X)the hawks are gathered,
each one with her mate.
16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord:
Not one of these shall be missing;
none shall be without her mate.
For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,
and his Spirit has gathered them.
17 (Y)He has cast the lot for them;
his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;
they shall possess it forever;
from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:2 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5
- Isaiah 34:9 Hebrew her streams
- Isaiah 34:11 The identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain
- Isaiah 34:11 Hebrew formlessness
- Isaiah 34:13 Or owls
- Isaiah 34:14 Identity uncertain
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English Standard Version (ESV) 
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