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For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky.
    Behold, it will come down on Edom,
    and on the people of my curse, for judgment.
Yahweh’s sword is filled with blood.
    It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
    with the fat of the kidneys of rams;
    for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
    And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
The wild oxen will come down with them,
    and the young bulls with the mighty bulls;
    and their land will be drunken with blood,
    and their dust made greasy with fat.

For Yahweh has a day of vengeance,
    a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
Its streams will be turned into pitch,
    its dust into sulfur,
    And its land will become burning pitch.
10 It won’t be quenched night or day.
    Its smoke will go up forever.
    From generation to generation, it will lie waste.
    No one will pass through it forever and ever.
11 But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it.
    The owl and the raven will dwell in it.
He will stretch the line of confusion over it,
    and the plumb line of emptiness.
12 They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there;
    and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 Thorns will come up in its palaces,
    nettles and thistles in its fortresses;
    and it will be a habitation of jackals,
    a court for ostriches.
14 The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves,
    and the wild goat will cry to his fellow.
Yes, the night creature[a] shall settle there,
    and shall find herself a place of rest.
15 The arrow snake will make her nest there,
    and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade.
    Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate.

16 Search in the book of Yahweh, and read:
    not one of these will be missing.
    None will lack her mate.
    For my mouth has commanded,
    and his Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the lot for them,
    and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line.
    They shall possess it forever.
    From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

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Footnotes

  1. 34:14 literally, lilith, which could also be a night demon or night monster

For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
    behold, it descends for judgment upon (A)Edom,
    upon the people (B)I have devoted to destruction.
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.
(C)For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
    a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
(D)Wild oxen shall (E)fall with them,
    and (F)young steers with (G)the mighty bulls.
Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
    and their soil shall be gorged with fat.

(H)For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
    a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
(I)And the streams of Edom[a] shall be turned into pitch,
    and her soil into sulfur;
    her land shall become burning pitch.
10 Night and day (J)it shall not be quenched;
    (K)its smoke shall go up forever.
(L)From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
    none shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 (M)But the hawk and the porcupine[b] shall possess it,
    the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
(N)He shall stretch the line of (O)confusion[c] 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 (P)Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
    nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of (Q)jackals,
    an abode for ostriches.[d]
14 (R)And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
    the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
indeed, there the night bird[e] 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 (S)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 (T)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.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 34:9 Hebrew her streams
  2. Isaiah 34:11 The identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain
  3. Isaiah 34:11 Hebrew formlessness
  4. Isaiah 34:13 Or owls
  5. Isaiah 34:14 Identity uncertain