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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Isaiah 34
34
The Nations Will Be Judged
1Everyone of every nation,
the entire earth,
and all its creatures,
come here and listen!
2The Lord is terribly angry
with the nations;
he has condemned them
to be slaughtered.
3Their dead bodies will be left
to rot and stink;
their blood will flow
down the mountains.
4 #
Mt 24.29; Mk 13.25; Lk 21.26; Rev 6.13,14. Each star#34.4 star: Stars were worshiped as gods. will disappear—
the sky will roll up
like a scroll.#34.4 scroll: A roll of paper or specially prepared leather used for writing on.
Everything in the sky
will dry up and wilt
like leaves on a vine
or fruit on a tree.
Trouble for Edom
5 #
Is 63.1-6; Jr 49.7-22; Ez 25.12-14; 35.1-15; Am 1.11,12; Ob 1-14; Ml 1.2-5. After the sword of the Lord
has done what it wants
to the skies above,#34.5 has done … above: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls “appears in the skies above.”
it will come down on Edom,
the nation that the Lord
has doomed for destruction.
6The sword of the Lord
is covered with blood
from lambs and goats,
together with fat
from kidneys of rams.
This is because the Lord
will slaughter many people
and make a sacrifice of them
in the city of Bozrah
and everywhere else
in Edom.
7Edom's leaders are wild oxen.
They are powerful bulls,
but they will die
with the others.
Their country will be soaked
with their own blood,
and its soil made fertile
with their own fat.
8The Lord has chosen
the year and the day,
when he will take revenge
and come to Zion's defense.
9Edom's streams will turn into tar
and its soil into sulfur—
then the whole country
will go up in flames.
10 #
Rev 14.11; 19.3. It will burn night and day
and never stop smoking.
Edom will be a desert,
generation after generation;
no one will ever travel
through that land.
11Owls, hawks, and wild animals#34.11 Owls … animals: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
will make it their home.
God will leave it in ruins,
merely a pile of rocks.
The End of Edom
12Edom will be called
“Kingdom of Nothing.”
Its rulers will also be nothing.
13Its palaces and fortresses
will be covered with thorns;
only wolves and ostriches
will make their home there.
14Wildcats and hyenas
will hunt together,
demons will scream to demons,
and creatures of the night
will live among the ruins.
15Owls will nest there
to raise their young
among its shadows,#34.15 Owls … shadows: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
while families of vultures
circle around.
16In The Book of the Lord#34.16 The Book of the Lord: The book that Isaiah refers to is unknown.
you can search and find
where it is written,
“The Lord brought together
all of his creatures
by the power of his Spirit.
Not one is missing.”
17The Lord has decided
where they each should live;
they will be there forever,
generation after generation.
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