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
Easy-to-Read Version
God Will Punish His Enemies
34 All you nations, come near and listen! Listen, all you people. The earth and everyone on it should listen to these things. Everything in this world should hear this. 2 The Lord is angry with all the nations and their armies. He will destroy them all and put them to death. 3 Their bodies will be thrown outside. The stink will rise from the bodies, and the blood will flow down the mountains. 4 The skies will be rolled shut like a scroll,[a] and the stars will die and fall like leaves from a vine or a fig tree. All the stars[b] in the sky will rot away. 5 The Lord says, “This will happen when my sword in the sky is covered with blood.”
Look, the Lord’s sword will cut through Edom. He judged them guilty, and they must die.[c] 6 The Lord decided there should be a time for killing in Bozrah and in Edom. So the sword of the Lord is covered with blood and fat. The blood is from the “goats.” The fat is from the kidneys of the “rams.”[d] 7 So the rams, the cattle, and the strong bulls will be killed. The land will be filled with their blood. The dirt will be covered with their fat.
8 This will happen because the Lord has chosen a time for punishment. He has chosen a year when people must pay for the wrong they did to Zion. 9 Edom’s rivers will be like hot tar. Edom’s ground will be like burning sulfur. 10 The fires will burn day and night—no one will stop the fire. The smoke will rise from Edom forever. The land will be destroyed forever and ever. No one will ever travel through that land again. 11 Birds and small animals will own that land. It will be a home for owls and ravens. God will leave that land in ruins. People will call it “the empty desert.”[e] 12 The free men[f] and leaders will all be gone, and there will be nothing left for them to rule.
13 Thorns and wild bushes will grow in all the beautiful homes there. Wild dogs and owls will live in them. Wild animals will make their homes there. Big birds will live in the grasses that grow there. 14 Wild cats will live there with hyenas.[g] Wild goats[h] will call to their friends. Night animals[i] will spend some time there and find a place to rest. 15 Snakes will make their homes there and lay their eggs. The eggs will open, and small snakes will crawl from the dark places. Birds that eat dead things will gather there like women visiting their friends.
16 Look in the Lord’s scroll and read what it says: Not one of these will be missing. Not one will be without its mate. God said he would make this happen, so his Spirit will bring them together. 17 God decided what he should do with them, and then he chose a place for them. He drew a line and showed them their land. So the animals will own that land forever. They will live there year after year.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:4 rolled shut like a scroll This is like someone closing a book when they have finished reading it.
- Isaiah 34:4 stars Literally, “the armies of the skies.”
- Isaiah 34:5 guilty, and they must die The Hebrew means the people belonged completely to God, and if he does not get them, they must die.
- Isaiah 34:6 goats … rams This probably refers to the people and leaders of Edom.
- Isaiah 34:11 God … desert Literally, “He will stretch over it the measuring string of ‘emptiness’ and the stone weights of ‘nothingness.’” These two words described the empty earth in Gen. 1:2.
- Isaiah 34:12 free men Important citizens of a town or country. These people came from “good families” and had never been slaves.
- Isaiah 34:14 hyenas A kind of wild dog that often eats the meat of dead animals that other animals killed.
- Isaiah 34:14 Wild goats The Hebrew word means “hairy,” “goat,” or “goat-demon.”
- Isaiah 34:14 Night animals Or “Lilith, the night demon.” This name is like the Hebrew word for night.
Isaiah 34
King James Version
34 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
2 For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
8 For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
9 And the streams thereof 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 cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, 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.
Isaiah 34
New King James Version
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.
2 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.
3 Also their slain shall be thrown out;
(D)Their stench shall rise from their corpses,
And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 (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.
5 “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.
6 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.
7 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.”
8 For it is the day of the Lord’s (L)vengeance,
The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9 (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
- Isaiah 34:6 Lit. fat
- Isaiah 34:7 Lit. made fat
- Isaiah 34:11 Or owl
- Isaiah 34:11 Or hedgehog
- Isaiah 34:14 Lit. howling creatures
- Isaiah 34:14 Heb. lilith
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
