Isaiah 34

1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is in it; the world, and all things that spring from it.

You people of all nations, come near and listen and pay careful attention. I want the world and everything that is in it to hear what I say.

2 For 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.

Yahweh is angry with [the people of] all nations; he is (furious/very angry) with all their armies. He has decided that they must be destroyed, and he will slaughter them.

3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their foul odour shall come up from their dead bodies, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

Their corpses will not be buried, and [as a result] their corpses will stink, and their blood will [fill the streams that] flow down the mountains.

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

The sky will disappear like [SIM] a scroll that is rolled up [and thrown away]. Stars will fall [from the sky] like [SIM] [withered] leaves fall from grapevines, [or] like [SIM] shriveled figs fall from fig trees.

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

When Yahweh has finished his work of destroying objects in the sky, he will punish [the people of] Edom, that people-group that he has said must be destroyed/exterminated.

6 The 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 Edom.

[It is as though] Yahweh has a sword that is covered with blood and fat— the blood of lambs and goats and the fat of the kidneys of rams to be sacrificed. [It is as though] Yahweh will offer a sacrifice in [the city of] Bozrah [and kill many people] in other cities in Edom.

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

[Even] wild oxen will be killed, as well as young calves and big bulls. The ground will be soaked with blood, and the dirt will be covered with the fat of those animals.

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

That will be the time when Yahweh gets revenge for what those people did to the people of Judah.

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

The streams in Edom will be full of burning pitch/tar, and the ground will be covered with burning sulfur.

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

Yahweh will never finish punishing Edom with fire; the smoke will rise forever. No one will ever live in that land, and no one will [even] travel through it.

11 But 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.

Ravens and various kinds of owls and small animals will live there. Yahweh will measure that land carefully: He will measure it to [to decide where] to cause chaos and destruction.

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

There will be no princes; the people who have authority will have no kingdom to rule.

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

The deserted palaces and fortified buildings will be full of thorns and thistles. The ruins will be a place for jackals/wolves and owls to live.

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

Animals that live in the desert and hyenas/wolves will be there, and wild goats will bleat/call to each other. There will also be creatures/animals that [roam around] at night.

15 There 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.

Owls will make their nests there and lay their eggs in the nests; and when the eggs hatch, the mother birds will cover them [with their wings]. There will also be falcons/hawks there, each with its mate.

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

If you read what is written in the book that contains messages from Yahweh, you will find out what he will do [in Edom]. All of those animals and birds will be there, and each one will have a mate, because that is what Yahweh has promised, and his Spirit will cause them [all] to gather [there].

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

He has decided what parts of the land [of Edom] each will live in, and those are the places where each bird or animal will live. Their descendants will possess those areas forever, throughout all generations.