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Isaiah 34
Common English Bible
Isaiah 34
Common English Bible
Vengeance against Edom
34 Draw near, you nations, to hear;
and listen, you peoples.
Hear, earth and all who fill it,
world and all its offspring.
2 The Lord rages against all the nations,
and is angry with all their armies.
God is about to wipe them out
and has prepared them for slaughter.
3 Their dead will be cast out,
the stench of their corpses will rise,
and the mountains will melt from their blood.
4 All the stars of heaven will dissolve,
the skies will roll up like a scroll,
and all the stars will fall,
like a leaf withering from a vine,
like fruit from a fig tree.
5 When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
it will descend upon Edom for judgment,
upon a people I have doomed for destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword covered with blood;
it is soaked with fat
from the blood of lambs and goats,
from the kidney fat of rams,
for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Wild oxen will fall with them,
steers with mighty bulls,
and their land will be drenched with blood;
its soil soaked with fat.
8 The Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of payback for Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
its dust into sulfur,
and its land will become burning pitch.
10 Night and day won’t be extinguished;
its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will lie waste;
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 Screech owls and crows will possess it;
owls and ravens will live there.[a]
God will stretch over it the measuring line of chaos
and the plummet stone of emptiness over its officials.
12 No Kingdom There, they will call it,
and all its princes will disappear.
13 Thorns will grow up in its palaces,
weeds and brambles in its fortresses.
It will be a dwelling for jackals,
a home for ostriches.
14 Wildcats will meet hyenas,
the goat demon will call to his friends,
and there Lilith[b] will lurk
and find her resting place.
15 There the snake will nest and lay eggs
and brood and hatch in its shadow.
There too vultures will gather,
each with its mate.[c]
16 Consult the Lord’s scroll and read:
Not one of these will be missing;
none will lack its mate.
God’s own mouth has commanded;
God’s own spirit has gathered them.
17 God has cast the lot for them;
God’s hand allotted it to them with the measuring line.
They will possess it forever;
they will live in it from generation to generation.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:11 Species uncertain
- Isaiah 34:14 Name of a demon
- Isaiah 34:15 Species uncertain
Isaiah 34
New International Version
Isaiah 34
New International Version
Judgment Against the Nations
34 Come near, you nations, and listen;(A)
pay attention, you peoples!(B)
Let the earth(C) hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!(D)
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath(E) is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy[a](F) them,
he will give them over to slaughter.(G)
3 Their slain(H) will be thrown out,
their dead bodies(I) will stink;(J)
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.(K)
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved(L)
and the heavens rolled up(M) like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall(N)
like withered(O) leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword(P) has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom,(Q)
the people I have totally destroyed.(R)
6 The sword(S) of the Lord is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice(T) in Bozrah(U)
and a great slaughter(V) in the land of Edom.
7 And the wild oxen(W) will fall with them,
the bull calves and the great bulls.(X)
Their land will be drenched with blood,(Y)
and the dust will be soaked with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day(Z) of vengeance,(AA)
a year of retribution,(AB) to uphold Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur;(AC)
her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched(AD) night or day;
its smoke will rise forever.(AE)
From generation to generation(AF) it will lie desolate;(AG)
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl[b](AH) and screech owl[c] will possess it;
the great owl[d] and the raven(AI) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom(AJ)
the measuring line of chaos(AK)
and the plumb line(AL) of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
all her princes(AM) will vanish(AN) away.
13 Thorns(AO) will overrun her citadels,
nettles and brambles her strongholds.(AP)
She will become a haunt for jackals,(AQ)
a home for owls.(AR)
14 Desert creatures(AS) will meet with hyenas,(AT)
and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures(AU) will also lie down
and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
she will hatch them, and care for her young
under the shadow of her wings;(AV)
there also the falcons(AW) will gather,
each with its mate.
16 Look in the scroll(AX) of the Lord and read:
None of these will be missing,(AY)
not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth(AZ) that has given the order,(BA)
and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions;(BB)
his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
and dwell there from generation to generation.(BC)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.