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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Isaiah 34: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
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.
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