Isaiah 34
34
Judgment on the Nations
1Draw near, O nations, to hear;
O peoples, give heed!
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
the world, and all that comes from it.
2For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,
and furious against all their hoards;
he has doomed them, has given them over for slaughter.
3Their slain shall be cast out,
and the stench of their corpses shall rise;
the mountains shall flow with their blood.
4All the host of heaven shall rot away,
and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall wither
like a leaf withering on a vine,
or fruit withering on a fig tree.
5When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
lo, it will descend upon Edom,
upon the people I have doomed to judgment.
6The 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.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7Wild oxen shall fall with them,
and young steers with the mighty bulls.
Their land shall be soaked with blood,
and their soil made rich with fat.
8For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of vindication by Zion's cause.#34.8 Or of recompense by Zion's defender
9And the streams of Edom#34.9 Heb her streams shall be turned into pitch,
and her soil into sulfur;
her land shall become burning pitch.
10Night and day it shall not be quenched;
its smoke shall go up forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
no one shall pass through it forever and ever.
11But the hawk#34.11 Identification uncertain and the hedgehog#34.11 Identification uncertain shall possess it;
the owl#34.11 Identification uncertain and the raven shall live in it.
He shall stretch the line of confusion over it,
and the plummet of chaos over#34.11 Heb lacks over its nobles.
12They shall name it No Kingdom There,
and all its princes shall be nothing.
13Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of jackals,
an abode for ostriches.
14Wildcats shall meet with hyenas,
goat-demons shall call to each other;
there too Lilith shall repose,
and find a place to rest.
15There shall the owl nest
and lay and hatch and brood in its shadow;
there too the buzzards shall gather,
each one with its mate.
16Seek and read from the book of the Lord:
Not one of these shall be missing;
none shall be without its mate.
For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,
and his spirit has gathered them.
17He 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 live in it.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 34: NRSV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 34
34
A Message for the Nations
1Come here and listen, O nations of the earth.
Let the world and everything in it hear my words.
2For the Lord is enraged against the nations.
His fury is against all their armies.
He will completely destroy#34:2 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; similarly in 34:5. them,
dooming them to slaughter.
3Their dead will be left unburied,
and the stench of rotting bodies will fill the land.
The mountains will flow with their blood.
4The heavens above will melt away
and disappear like a rolled-up scroll.
The stars will fall from the sky
like withered leaves from a grapevine,
or shriveled figs from a fig tree.
5And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens,
it will fall upon Edom,
the nation I have marked for destruction.
6The sword of the Lord is drenched with blood
and covered with fat—
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams prepared for sacrifice.
Yes, the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah.
He will make a mighty slaughter in Edom.
7Even men as strong as wild oxen will die—
the young men alongside the veterans.
The land will be soaked with blood
and the soil enriched with fat.
8For it is the day of the Lord’s revenge,
the year when Edom will be paid back for all it did to Israel.#34:8 Hebrew to Zion.
9The streams of Edom will be filled with burning pitch,
and the ground will be covered with fire.
10This judgment on Edom will never end;
the smoke of its burning will rise forever.
The land will lie deserted from generation to generation.
No one will live there anymore.
11It will be haunted by the desert owl and the screech owl,
the great owl and the raven.#34:11 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
For God will measure that land carefully;
he will measure it for chaos and destruction.
12It will be called the Land of Nothing,
and all its nobles will soon be gone.#34:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
13Thorns will overrun its palaces;
nettles and thistles will grow in its forts.
The ruins will become a haunt for jackals
and a home for owls.
14Desert animals will mingle there with hyenas,
their howls filling the night.
Wild goats will bleat at one another among the ruins,
and night creatures#34:14 Hebrew Lilith, possibly a reference to a mythical demon of the night. will come there to rest.
15There the owl will make her nest and lay her eggs.
She will hatch her young and cover them with her wings.
And the buzzards will come,
each one with its mate.
16Search the book of the Lord,
and see what he will do.
Not one of these birds and animals will be missing,
and none will lack a mate,
for the Lord has promised this.
His Spirit will make it all come true.
17He has surveyed and divided the land
and deeded it over to those creatures.
They will possess it forever,
from generation to generation.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT: