Isaiah 34

¹Come near, you nations, and give ear; take note, you peoples: let the earth and everything in it give ear; the world and all those living in it.

²For the Lord is angry with all the nations, and his wrath is burning against all their armies: he has put them to the curse, he has given them to destruction.

³Their dead bodies will be thick on the face of the earth, and their smell will come up, and the mountains will be flowing with their blood, and all the hills will come to nothing.

⁴And the heavens will be rolled together like the roll of a book: and all their army will be gone, like a dead leaf from the vine, or a dry fruit from the fig-tree.

⁵For my sword in heaven is full of wrath: see, it is coming down on Edom, in punishment on the people of my curse.

⁶The sword of the Lord is full of blood, it is fat with the best of the meat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the best parts of the sheep: for the Lord has a feast in Bozrah, and much cattle will be put to death in the land of Edom.

⁷And the strong oxen will go down to death together with the smaller cattle.

⁸For it is the day of the Lord's punishment, when he gives payment for the wrongs done to Zion.

⁹And its streams will be turned into boiling oil, and its dust into burning stone, and all the land will be on fire.

¹⁰It will not be put out day or night; its smoke will go up for ever: it will be waste from generation to generation; no one will go through it for ever.

¹¹But the birds of the waste land will have their place there; it will be a heritage for the bittern and the raven: and it will be measured out with line and weight as a waste land.

¹²The jackals will be there, and her great ones will be gone; they will say, There is no longer a kingdom there, and all her chiefs will have come to an end.

¹³And thorns will come up in her fair houses, and waste plants in her strong towers: and foxes will make their holes there, and it will be a meeting-place for ostriches.

¹⁴And the beasts of the waste places will come together with the jackals, and the evil spirits will be crying to one another, even the night-spirit will come and make her resting-place there.

¹⁵The arrowsnake will make her hole and put her eggs there, and get her young together under her shade: there the hawks will come together by twos.

¹⁶See what is recorded in the book of the Lord: all these will be there, not one without the other: the mouth of the Lord has given the order, and his spirit has made them come together.

¹⁷And he has given them their heritage, and by his hand it has been measured out to them: it will be theirs for ever, their resting-place from generation to generation.

Isaiah 34

¹Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear; the world, and everything that comes from it.

²For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter.

³Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up; and the mountains will melt in their blood.

⁴All of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree.

⁵For 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.

⁶The Lord'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 the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

⁷The 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.

⁸For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

⁹Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch.

¹⁰It won't be quenched night nor day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever.

¹¹But 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.

¹²They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.

¹³Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.

¹⁴The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest.

¹⁵The 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.

¹⁶Search in the book of the Lord, 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.

¹⁷He 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.