Isaiah 34
34
Judgment upon Edom
1Come near, nations, and listen;
be attentive, you peoples!
Let the earth and what fills it listen,
the world and all it produces.#Mi 1:2.
2The Lord is angry with all the nations,
enraged against all their host;
He has placed them under the ban,
given them up to slaughter.#Is 24:21.
3Their slain shall be cast out,
their corpses shall send up a stench;
the mountains shall run with their blood,#Ez 32:4, 6.
4All the host of heaven shall rot;
the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll.
All their host shall wither away,
as the leaf wilts on the vine,
or as the fig withers on the tree.#Is 13:10; 24:23; Ez 32:7; Jl 3:3–4; Mt 24:29; 2 Pt 3:10; Rev 6:12–14.
5When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
it shall come down upon Edom for judgment,
upon a people under my ban.#Jer 46:10.
6The Lord has a sword sated with blood,
greasy with fat,
With the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams’ kidneys;
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.#Is 63:1; Lv 3:4; 2 Sm 1:22; Jer 49:12–13; Zep 1:7.
7Wild oxen shall be struck down with fatlings,
and bullocks with bulls;
Their land shall be soaked with blood,
and their soil greasy with fat.
8#The extreme hostility against Edom in this passage is reflected in a number of other prophetic texts from the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. (cf. e.g., 63:1–6; Jer 49:7–22; Ez 25:12–14). The animus was probably prompted by Edomite infiltration of the southern territories of Judah, especially after the Babylonian conquest of Judah. For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of requital for the cause of Zion.#Is 13:9; 63:4.
9Edom’s streams shall be changed into pitch,
its soil into sulfur,
and its land shall become burning pitch;
10Night and day it shall not be quenched,
its smoke shall rise forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste,
never again shall anyone pass through it.#Mal 1:4; Rev 14:11; 18:18.
11But the desert owl and hoot owl shall possess it,
the screech owl and raven shall dwell in it.
The Lord will stretch over it the measuring line of chaos,
the plumb line of confusion.#Chaos…confusion: tohu…bohu in Hebrew, the terms used to describe the primeval chaos in Gn 1:2. #Is 14:23; 28:17; 2 Kgs 21:13; Zep 2:14.
12Its nobles shall be no more,
nor shall kings be proclaimed there;
all its princes are gone.#Ob 18.
13Its castles shall be overgrown with thorns,
its fortresses with thistles and briers.
It shall become an abode for jackals,
a haunt for ostriches.#Is 13:21; Hos 9:6.
14Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts,
satyrs#Satyrs: see note on 13:21. The lilith: a female demon thought to roam about the desert. shall call to one another;
There shall the lilith repose,
and find for herself a place to rest.
15There the hoot owl shall nest and lay eggs,
hatch them out and gather them in her shadow;
There shall the kites assemble,
each with its mate.
16Search through the book of the Lord#Book of the Lord: a list of God’s creatures; cf. Ex 32:32–33; Ps 69:29, “the book of the living”; Ps 139:16, “your book.” and read:
not one of these shall be lacking,
For the mouth of the Lord has ordered it,
and his spirit gathers them there.
17It is he who casts the lot for them;
his hand measures off#Casts the lot…measures off: an ironic reference to how land might be distributed to new possessors (cf. Jos 14–21; Mi 2:5). their portions;
They shall possess it forever,
and dwell in it from generation to generation.#Jos 18:10; Ps 78:55.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 34
34
The Judgment of the Nations
1You nations, come here and listen;
you peoples, pay attention!#Ps 49:1; Is 1:2; 41:1; 43:9; 45:20
Let the earth and all that fills it hear,
the world and all that comes from it.#Ps 24:1; Is 6:3; 42:5
2The Lord is angry with all the nations,
furious with all their armies.#Is 13:5; Jr 10:10; 50:13
He will set them apart for destruction,#Jos 6:21; 1Sm 15:3; Is 11:5; 24:1,6; 43:28
giving them over to slaughter.
3Their slain will be thrown out,
and the stench of their corpses will rise;#Is 14:21; 18:6; Ezk 39:17; Jl 2:10; Am 4:10; Rv 19:17–19
the mountains will flow#34:3 Or melt, or dissolve with their blood.#Ps 46:2–3
4All#34:4 DSS read And the valleys will be split, and all the stars in the sky#2Kg 17:16; 21:3,5; 23:4–5 will dissolve.
The sky will roll up like a scroll,#Rv 6:12–14
and its stars will all wither
as leaves wither on the vine,
and foliage on the fig tree.#Ps 102:25–27; Is 13:10; 51:6; Ezk 32:7–8; Jl 3:15; Mt 24:29; Mk 13:24–25; 2Pt 3:10,12
The Judgment of Edom
5When my sword has drunk its fill#34:5 DSS read sword will appear#Dt 32:41–43; Jr 46:10; Ezk 21:3–5 in the heavens,
it will then come down on Edom#Nm 20:14–21; Is 63:1; Jr 49:7–8,20; Ezk 25:12–14; 35:1–15; Jl 3:19; Am 1:11–12; Ob 1–14; Mal 1:4
and on the people I have set apart for destruction.
6The 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.#Is 25:6; 30:32; Jr 46:10; 51:40; Ezk 39:17; Zph 1:7–9
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,#Gn 36:33; Is 63:1; Jr 49:13,22
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7The wild oxen will be struck#34:7 Or will go down with them,
and young bulls with the mighty bulls.
Their land will be soaked with#34:7 Or will drink its fill of blood,
and their soil will be saturated with fat.
8For the Lord has a day of vengeance,#Is 13:6; 35:4; 47:3; 61:2; 63:4
a time of paying back Edom
for its hostility against Zion.
9Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her soil into sulfur;#Gn 19:24; Dt 29:23; Ps 11:6; Is 30:33; Ezk 38:22
her land will become burning pitch.
10It will never go out — day or night.
Its smoke will go up forever.#Is 1:31; 66:24; Rv 14:11; 19:3
It will be desolate, from generation to generation;
no one will pass through it forever and ever.#Is 13:20–22; Ezk 29:11; Mal 1:3–4
11Eagle owls#34:11 Or Pelicans and herons#34:11 Or hedgehogs will possess it,
and long-eared owls and ravens will dwell there.#Is 13:21–22; 14:23; Zph 2:14
The Lord will stretch out a measuring line
and a plumb line#Am 7:7–9 over her
for her destruction and chaos.#2Kg 21:13; Is 24:10; Lm 2:8
12No nobles will be left to proclaim a king,
and all her princes will come to nothing.
13Her palaces will be overgrown with thorns;
her fortified cities, with thistles and briers.#Is 32:13
She will become a dwelling for jackals,
an abode#34:13 DSS, LXX, Syr, Tg; MT reads jackals, grass for ostriches.#Ps 44:19; Is 13:22; Jr 9:11; 10:22; Mal 1:3
14The desert creatures will meet hyenas,
and one wild goat will call to another.
Indeed, the night birds will stay there
and will find a resting place.
15Sand partridges#34:15 Or Arrow snakes, or Owls will make their nests there;
they will lay and hatch their eggs
and will gather their broods under their shadows.
Indeed, the birds of prey will gather there,
each with its mate.#Dt 14:13
16Search and read the scroll of the Lord:#Ps 40:7; 139:16; Is 8:16; 30:8; Dn 7:10; Mal 3:16; Rv 20:12
Not one of them will be missing,
none will be lacking its mate,
because he has ordered it by my#34:16 Some Hb mss; other Hb mss, DSS, Syr, Tg read his mouth,
and he will gather them by his Spirit.
17He has cast the lot for them;
his hand allotted their portion with a measuring line.
They will possess it forever;#Nm 24:18
they will dwell in it from generation to generation.
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