Isaiah 34:2-15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 The Lord is angry with all the nations,
enraged against all their host;
He has placed them under the ban,
given them up to slaughter.(A)
3 Their slain shall be cast out,
their corpses shall send up a stench;
the mountains shall run with their blood,(B)
4 All the host of heaven shall rot;
the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll.
All their host shall wither away,
as the leaf wilts on the vine,
or as the fig withers on the tree.(C)
5 When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
it shall come down upon Edom for judgment,
upon a people under my ban.(D)
6 The Lord has a sword sated with blood,
greasy with fat,
With the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams’ kidneys;
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.(E)
7 Wild oxen shall be struck down with fatlings,
and bullocks with bulls;
Their land shall be soaked with blood,
and their soil greasy with fat.
8 [a]For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of requital for the cause of Zion.(F)
9 Edom’s streams shall be changed into pitch,
its soil into sulfur,
and its land shall become burning pitch;
10 Night and day it shall not be quenched,
its smoke shall rise forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste,
never again shall anyone pass through it.(G)
11 But the desert owl and hoot owl shall possess it,
the screech owl and raven shall dwell in it.
The Lord will stretch over it the measuring line of chaos,
the plumb line of confusion.[b](H)
12 Its nobles shall be no more,
nor shall kings be proclaimed there;
all its princes are gone.(I)
13 Its castles shall be overgrown with thorns,
its fortresses with thistles and briers.
It shall become an abode for jackals,
a haunt for ostriches.(J)
14 Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts,
satyrs[c] shall call to one another;
There shall the lilith repose,
and find for herself a place to rest.
15 There the hoot owl shall nest and lay eggs,
hatch them out and gather them in her shadow;
There shall the kites assemble,
each with its mate.
Footnotes
- 34:8–17 The extreme hostility against Edom in this passage is reflected in a number of other prophetic texts from the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. (cf. e.g., 63:1–6; Jer 49:7–22; Ez 25:12–14). The animus was probably prompted by Edomite infiltration of the southern territories of Judah, especially after the Babylonian conquest of Judah.
- 34:11 Chaos…confusion: tohu…bohu in Hebrew, the terms used to describe the primeval chaos in Gn 1:2.
- 34:14 Satyrs: see note on 13:21. The lilith: a female demon thought to roam about the desert.
Isaiah 63:1-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 63
The Divine Warrior[a]
1 Who is this that comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments, from Bozrah?
Who is this, glorious in his apparel,
striding in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, I who announce vindication,
mighty to save.”(A)
2 Why is your apparel red,
and your garments like one who treads the wine press?(B)
3 “The wine press I have trodden alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me.
I trod them in my anger,
and trampled them down in my wrath;
Their blood spurted on my garments,
all my apparel I stained.
4 For a day of vindication was in my heart,
my year for redeeming had come.(C)
5 I looked about, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that there was no one to lend support;
So my own arm brought me victory
and my own wrath lent me support.(D)
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger,
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their blood upon the ground.”
Footnotes
- 63:1–6 Two questions are raised at the approach of a majestic figure coming from Edom. It is the Lord, his garments red with the blood from the judgment battle. Edom (its capital Bozrah) plundered Judah after the fall of Jerusalem; cf. 34:5–17. Wine press: here a symbol of a bloody judgment; cf. Lam 1:15; Jl 4:13.
Jeremiah 49:7-22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
7 Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Is there no more wisdom in Teman,[a]
has counsel perished from the prudent,
is their wisdom gone?
8 Flee, retreat, hide deep for lodging,
inhabitants of Dedan:
For I bring disaster upon Esau[b]
when I come to punish them.(A)
9 If vintagers came upon you,
they would leave no gleanings;
If thieves by night,
they would destroy as they pleased.(B)
10 So I myself will strip Esau;
I will uncover his lairs so he cannot hide.
Offspring and family are destroyed,
neighbors, too; he is no more.(C)
11 Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive;
your widows, let them trust in me.(D)
12 For thus says the Lord: Look, even those not sentenced to drink the cup must drink it! Shall you then go unpunished? You shall not! You shall drink every bit of it!(E) 13 By myself I have sworn—oracle of the Lord—Bozrah[c] shall become an object of horror, a disgrace, a desolation, and a curse. Bozrah and all its cities shall become ruins forever.(F)
14 I have heard a report from the Lord,
a herald has been sent among the nations:
“Gather together, move against it,
get ready for battle!”
15 I will make you the least among the nations,
despised by all people!(G)
16 The terror you spread,
the pride of your heart, beguiled you.
You denizens of rocks and crevices,
occupying towering peaks:
Though you build your nest high as the eagle,
from there I will bring you down—oracle of the Lord.(H)
17 Edom shall become an object of horror. Passersby recoil in terror, hissing at all its wounds. 18 As when Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighbors were overthrown—oracle of the Lord—no one shall live in it, nor anyone settle there.(I)
19 As when a lion comes up from a thicket of the Jordan
to a permanent pasture,
So in an instant, I will chase them off;
I will establish there whomever I choose.
For who is like me? Who holds me accountable?
What shepherd can stand against me?(J)
20 Therefore, listen to the strategy
the Lord devised for Edom;
The plans he has drawn up
against the inhabitants of Teman:
They shall be dragged away, even the smallest of the flock;
their pasture shall be aghast because of them.
21 With the din of their collapse the earth quakes,
to the Red Sea the outcry is heard!
22 Look! like an eagle he soars aloft,
and spreads his wings over Bozrah;
On that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors become
like the heart of a woman in labor.(K)
Obadiah 21
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
21 And deliverers[a] will ascend Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingship shall be the Lord’s.
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