Isaiah 34

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

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 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.

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 Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up; and the mountains will melt in 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 heaven will rot away, and the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll. And all their host will wither, as a leaf withering from the vine, and as leaves withering from the 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 has drunk its fill in the sky. Look, it will come down on Edom, and 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 The 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.

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 The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be soaked with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat.

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 the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

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

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

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

10 It 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.

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 But 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.

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

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

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

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 the wildcats will meet with the hyenas, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. There too, nocturnal animals shall settle, and shall find themselves a place of rest.

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 will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the vultures will be gathered there, every one with her mate.

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 Search in the scroll 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.

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 He 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.

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.