Isaiah 34

1 Come near, you nations, to hear, And you peoples, give attention, The earth and its fullness hear, The world, and all its productions.

Come near, ye nations, to hear; and ye people, hearken: let the earth hear, and all that filleth it; the world, and all things that spring forth of it.

2 For to YHWH [is] wrath against all the nations, And fury against all their host, He has devoted them to destruction, He has given them to slaughter.

For the indignation of the Lord is [enkindled] over all the nations, and his fury over all their army: he hath devoted them, he hath given them up to the slaughter:

3 And their wounded are cast out, And their carcasses cause their stench to ascend, And mountains have been melted from their blood.

And their slain also shall be cast out, and as regardeth their carcasses their stench shall ascend upward, and the mountains shall be melted through their blood.

4 And all the host of the heavens have been consumed, And the heavens have been rolled together as a scroll, And all their hosts fade, As the fading of a leaf of a vine, And as the fading one of a fig tree.

And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together like a book: and all their host shall wither, as the leaf withereth from the vine, and as withering fruit from the fig-tree.

5 For My sword was soaked in the heavens, Behold, it comes down on Edom, On the people of My curse for judgment.

For my sword is sated in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people I have devoted to punishment.

6 A sword [is] to YHWH—it has been full of blood, It has been made fat with fatness, With blood of lambs and male goats. With fat of kidneys of rams, For to YHWH [is] a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

The sword of the Lord is full of blood, it is enriched with fat, 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 Edom.

7 And reems have come down with them, And bullocks with bulls, And their land has been soaked from blood, And their dust is made fat from fatness.

And wild oxen shall sink down with them, and steers with bullocks; and their land shall be sated with blood, and their dust enriched with fat.

8 (For a day of vengeance [is] to YHWH, A year of recompenses for Zion’s strife),

For it is the day of vengeance unto the Lord, and the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion.

9 And her streams have been turned to pitch, And her dust to brimstone, And her land has become burning pitch.

And its brooks shall be changed into pitch, and its dust into sulfur, and its land shall become burning pitch.

10 She is not quenched by night and by day, Her smoke goes up for all time, She is desolate from generation to generation, Forever and ever, none is passing into her.

Night and day shall it not be quenched; for ever shall ascend the smoke thereof: from generation to generation shall it lie waste; no one shall for ever and ever pass through it.

11 And pelican and hedgehog possess her, And owl and raven dwell in her, And He has stretched out over her A line of vacancy, and stones of emptiness.

But pelican and hedgehog shall take possession of it; night-owl also and raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out over it the line of destruction, and the weights of desolation.

12 They call her nobles [to] the kingdom, But there are none there, And all her princes are at an end.

Their nobles—no one is there they could call [to] the kingdom, and all its princes shall be no more.

13 And thorns have gone up her palaces, Nettle and bramble [are] in her fortresses, And it has been a habitation of dragons, A court for daughters of an ostrich.

And thorns shall spring up in its palaces, nettles and brambles in its fortresses: and it shall be a habitation of monsters, and a court for ostriches.

14 And desert-dwellers have met with howlers, And the goat calls for its companion, Surely the night-owl has rested there, And has found a place of rest for herself.

And the martens shall meet with the jackals, and one goat shall call to his fellow; only the screech-owl shall rest there, and find for herself a place of repose.

15 The owl has made her nest there, Indeed, she lays, and has hatched, And has gathered under her shadow, Surely vultures have been gathered there, Each with its companion.

There shall nestle the arrow-snake, and lay eggs, and hatch, and gather its young under its shadow: only vultures shall assemble there, every one with her mate.

16 Seek out of the scroll of YHWH, and read, One of these has not been lacking, None has missed its companion, For My mouth—it has commanded, And His Spirit—He has gathered them.

Inquire out of the book of the Lord, and read: not one of these shall be absent, not one shall miss her mate; for my mouth it is that hath ordained it, and its breath it is that hath gathered them.

17 And He has cast a lot for them, And His hand has apportioned [it] to them by line, They possess it for all time, They dwell in it from generation to generation!

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