Isaiah 34
Amplified Bible
God’s Wrath against Nations
34 Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!
Let the earth and all that is in it hear, and the world and all that comes forth from it.
2
For the Lord is angry at all the nations,
And His wrath is against all their armies;
He has [a]utterly doomed them,
He has given them over to slaughter.
3
So their slain will be thrown out,
And the stench of their corpses will rise,
And the mountains will flow with their blood.
4
All the host of heaven will be dissolved,
And the skies will be rolled up like a scroll;
All their hosts [the stars and the planets] will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
And as a fig withers from the fig tree.(A)
5
For My sword is satiated [with blood] in heaven;
Indeed, it will come down for judgment on Edom
And on the people whom I have doomed for destruction.(B)
6
The sword of the Lord is filled with blood [from sacrifices],
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 Bozrah (Edom’s capital city)
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7
Wild oxen will also fall with them
And the young bulls with the strong bulls;
And their land will be soaked with blood,
And their dust made greasy with fat.
8
For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
A year of retribution for the cause of Zion.
9
The streams [of Edom] will be turned into pitch,
And its dust into brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
10
The burning will not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will lie in ruins;
No one will ever again pass through it.(C)
11
But the pelican and the porcupine will take possession of it;
The owl and the raven will dwell in it.
And He will stretch over it (Edom) the measuring line of desolation
And the plumb line of emptiness.
12
Its nobles—there is no one there
Whom they may proclaim king—
And all its princes will be nothing.
13
Thorns will come up in its fortified palaces,
Nettles and brambles in its fortified cities;
It will be a haunt for jackals,
An abode for ostriches.
14
The creatures of the desert will encounter jackals
And the [b]hairy goat will call to its kind;
Indeed, [c]Lilith (night demon) will settle there
And find herself a place of rest.
15
There the arrow snake will make her nest and lay her eggs,
And hatch them and gather her young under her protection;
Indeed, the birds of prey will be gathered there [to breed],
Every one with its own kind.
16 Seek from the book of the Lord, and read:
Not one of these [creatures] will be missing;
None will lack its mate.
For His mouth has commanded,
And His Spirit has gathered them.
17
The Lord has cast the lot for them,
And His hand has divided and apportioned [d]Edom to the wild beasts by measuring-line.
They will possess it forever;
From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:2 Lit put them under the ban.
- Isaiah 34:14 Or demon satyr.
- Isaiah 34:14 Thought by some to be a female demon associated with the night.
- Isaiah 34:17 Lit it to them.
Isaiah 34
American Standard Version
34 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it. 2 For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath [a]utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven shall [b]be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-tree. 5 For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my [c]curse, to judgment. 6 The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
8 For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9 And the streams [d]of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; 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 But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the [e]owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the [f]plummet of emptiness. 12 [g]They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. 14 And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the [h]wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, [i]the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest. 15 There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:2 Hebrew devoted.
- Isaiah 34:4 Or, moulder away
- Isaiah 34:5 Hebrew devoting, or ban.
- Isaiah 34:9 Hebrew thereof.
- Isaiah 34:11 Or, bittern
- Isaiah 34:11 Hebrew stones.
- Isaiah 34:12 Or, As for her nobles, none shall be there to proclaim the kingdom
- Isaiah 34:14 Hebrew howling creatures.
- Isaiah 34:14 Hebrew Lilith.
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