Isaiah 34

¹Draw near, O ye nations, and hear! Attend, O ye people! Let the earth hear, and all that is therein; The world, and all that springs from it!

²For the wrath of Jehovah is kindled against all the nations, And his fury against all their armies; He hath devoted them to destruction; He hath given them up to slaughter.

³Their slain shall be cast out; From their carcasses their stench shall ascend, And the mountains shall flow down with their blood.

⁴And all the hosts of heaven shall melt away; And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, And all their host shall fall down, As the withered leaf faileth from the vine, As the blighted fruit from the fig-tree.

⁵For my sword hath become drunk in heaven; Behold, upon Edom shall it descend, Upon the people under my curse, for vengeance.

⁶The sword of Jehovah is full of blood; It is covered with fat, With the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams; For Jehovah holdeth a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

⁷The wild buffaloes shall fall down with them. And the bullocks with the bulls; The hind shall be drunk with blood, And the ground enriched with fat.

⁸For Jehovah holdeth a day of vengeance, A year of recompense in the cause of Zion.

⁹Her streams shall be turned into pitch, And her dust into brimstone, And her whole land shall become burning pitch.

¹⁰Day and night it shall not be quenched; Its smoke shall ascend forever; From generation to generation it shall lie waste; None shall pass through it for ever and ever.

¹¹The pelican and the hedgehog shall possess it; The heron and the raven shall dwell in it; Over it will he draw the measuring-line of destruction. And the plummet of desolation.

¹²Her nobles—none are there, who may proclaim a kingdom, And all her princes have come to naught.

¹³Thorns shall spring up in her palaces; Nettles and thistles in her strongholds. She shall become a habitation for jackals, A court for ostriches.

¹⁴The wild-cats shall fall upon the wolves, And the satyr shall call to his fellow; There also shall the night-spectre light, And find a place of rest.

¹⁵There also shall the arrow-snake make her nest, and lay her eggs; She shall hatch them, and gather her young under her shadow: There also shall the vultures be gathered together, Every one with her mate.

¹⁶Search ye the book of Jehovah, and read! Not one of these shall fail; Not one shall want her mate; For His mouth, it shall command, And His spirit, it shall gather them.

¹⁷He shall cast the lot for them; His hand shall divide it for them with a line; They shall possess it forever; From generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

Isaiah 34

¹Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

²For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

³Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

⁴And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

⁵For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

⁶The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

⁷And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

⁸For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

⁹And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

¹⁰It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

¹¹But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

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

¹³And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

¹⁴The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

¹⁵There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.

¹⁶Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

¹⁷And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.