Isaiah 34:5-17
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Judgment of Edom
5 When My sword has drunk its fill[a](A) in the heavens,
it will then come down on Edom(B)
and on the people I have set apart for destruction.
6 The Lord’s sword is covered with blood.
It drips with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.(C)
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,(D)
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 The wild oxen will be struck[b] down with them,
and young bulls with the mighty bulls.
Their land will be soaked with[c] blood,
and their soil will be saturated with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,(E)
a time of paying back Edom
for its hostility against Zion.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her soil into sulfur;(F)
her land will become burning pitch.
10 It will never go out—day or night.
Its smoke will go up forever.(G)
It will be desolate, from generation to generation;
no one will pass through it forever and ever.(H)
11 The desert owl[d] and the screech owl[e] will possess it,
and the great owl and the raven will dwell there.(I)
The Lord will stretch out a measuring line
and a plumb line over her
for her destruction and chaos.(J)
12 No nobles will be left to proclaim a king,
and all her princes will come to nothing.
13 Her palaces will be overgrown with thorns;
her fortified cities, with thistles and briers.(K)
She will become a dwelling for jackals,
an abode[f] for ostriches.(L)
14 The desert creatures will meet hyenas,
and one wild goat will call to another.
Indeed, the screech owl will stay there
and will find a resting place for herself.
15 The sand partridge[g] will make her nest there;
she will lay and hatch her eggs
and will gather her brood under her shadow.
Indeed, the birds of prey will gather there,
each with its mate.(M)
16 Search and read the scroll of the Lord:(N)
Not one of them will be missing,
none will be lacking its mate,
because He has ordered it by my[h] mouth,
and He will gather them by His Spirit.
17 He has ordained a lot for them;
His hand allotted their portion with a measuring line.
They will possess it forever;(O)
they will dwell in it from generation to generation.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:5 DSS read sword will appear
- Isaiah 34:7 Or will go
- Isaiah 34:7 Or will drink its fill of
- Isaiah 34:11 Or The pelican
- Isaiah 34:11 Or the hedgehog
- Isaiah 34:13 DSS, LXX, Syr, Tg; MT reads jackals, grass
- Isaiah 34:15 Or The arrow snake, or The owl
- Isaiah 34:16 Some Hb mss; other Hb mss, DSS, Syr, Tg read His
Isaiah 34:5-17
Common English Bible
5 When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
it will descend upon Edom for judgment,
upon a people I have doomed for destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword covered with blood;
it is soaked with fat
from the blood of lambs and goats,
from the kidney fat of rams,
for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Wild oxen will fall with them,
steers with mighty bulls,
and their land will be drenched with blood;
its soil soaked with fat.
8 The Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of payback for Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
its dust into sulfur,
and its land will become burning pitch.
10 Night and day won’t be extinguished;
its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will lie waste;
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 Screech owls and crows will possess it;
owls and ravens will live there.[a]
God will stretch over it the measuring line of chaos
and the plummet stone of emptiness over its officials.
12 No Kingdom There, they will call it,
and all its princes will disappear.
13 Thorns will grow up in its palaces,
weeds and brambles in its fortresses.
It will be a dwelling for jackals,
a home for ostriches.
14 Wildcats will meet hyenas,
the goat demon will call to his friends,
and there Lilith[b] will lurk
and find her resting place.
15 There the snake will nest and lay eggs
and brood and hatch in its shadow.
There too vultures will gather,
each with its mate.[c]
16 Consult the Lord’s scroll and read:
Not one of these will be missing;
none will lack its mate.
God’s own mouth has commanded;
God’s own spirit has gathered them.
17 God has cast the lot for them;
God’s hand allotted it to them with the measuring line.
They will possess it forever;
they will live in it from generation to generation.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:11 Species uncertain
- Isaiah 34:14 Name of a demon
- Isaiah 34:15 Species uncertain
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