Isaiah 34

1Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it.

1Come close, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth and everything in it hear, the whole world and everything that comes from it.

2For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

2For the LORD is angry with all the nations and furious with all their armies. He has set them apart for complete destruction; he has given them over to be slaughtered.

3Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

3Their dead bodies will be thrown out, and the stench will rise from their corpses; the mountains will be washed away by 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 fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-tree.

4All the stars in the sky will dissolve, and the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll. All the stars will fall away like withered leaves falling from a grapevine or shriveled fruit from a fig tree.

5For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

5For my sword has performed its work in the heavens; look, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have doomed to destruction.

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

6The LORD’S sword is covered with blood and covered with fat—the blood of lambs and goats, and the fat from the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

7Wild oxen will fall with them, along with young bulls and strong bulls. Their land will be soaked with blood, and their soil will be greasy with fat.

8For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

8For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of payback to settle the case for Zion.

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

9Edom’s streams will be turned into liquid tar and its dust into sulfur; the land will become burning tar.

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.

10The fire will not be put out day or night; its smoke will rise forever. From one generation to another it will remain a wasteland; no one will ever travel through it again.

11But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.

11The desert owl and the hedgehog will take it over; the great owl and the raven will live there. God will stretch out over the land the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of emptiness.

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

12They will call out to their nobles to rule the kingdom, but no one will be there; all its leaders will be gone.

13And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.

13Thorns will grow up over its palaces, and nettles and thistles will fill its fortresses. It will become a home for jackals and a place for ostriches to live.

14And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest.

14Desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and wild goats will call out to each other. Night creatures will settle there and find a place to rest.

15There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate.

15The owl will make her nest there, lay her eggs, hatch them, and gather her young under her shadow. Vultures will also gather there, each one with its mate.

16Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them.

16Look in the book of the LORD and read: Not one of these creatures will be missing; none will be without a mate. For the LORD’S mouth has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together.

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.

17He has assigned them their portions; he measured the land and handed it over to them. They will own it forever and live there from one generation to the next.