Isaiah 34
Expanded Bible
God Will Punish His Enemies
34 All you nations, come near and listen.
Pay attention, you peoples!
The earth and ·everything in it [all it contains] should listen,
the world and all ·the people in it [its offspring].
2 The Lord is angry with all the nations;
he is ·angry [furious] with their armies.
He will ·destroy them [devote them to destruction; Josh. 6:21] and ·kill them all [turn them over for slaughter].
3 Their bodies will be thrown outside.
The ·stink [stench] will rise from the ·bodies [corpses],
and the blood will flow down the mountains.
4 ·The sun, moon, and stars [L All the hosts/armies of heaven] will dissolve [Joel 2:31; Matt. 24:29; Acts 2:20; Rev. 6:13–14],
and the ·sky [heavens] will be rolled up like a scroll.
·The stars [L All their hosts] will fall
like dead leaves from a vine
or dried-up figs from a fig tree.
5 The Lord’s sword in the ·sky [heavens] ·is covered with [has drunk its fill of] blood.
It will ·cut through [L descend upon] Edom
and ·destroy those people as an offering to the Lord [on the people who are devoted to destruction for judgment; v. 2; Josh. 6:21].
6 The Lord’s sword will be covered with blood;
it will be covered with fat,
with the blood from lambs and goats,
with the fat from the kidneys of ·sheep [rams].
This is because the Lord ·decided there will be [L has] a sacrifice in Bozrah [C the capital of Edom]
and ·much killing [a great slaughter] in the land of Edom.
7 The wild oxen will ·be killed [L fall with them],
and the ·cattle [or young bulls] and the strong ·bulls [L ones; C perhaps referring to Edom’s leaders].
The land will ·be filled with [drink its fill of] their blood,
and the dirt will be covered with their fat.
8 The Lord has chosen a time for punishment.
He has chosen a year ·when people must pay [of retribution/recompense] for the ·wrongs they did to [or the cause of] ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple].
9 Edom’s rivers will be like ·hot tar [pitch].
Its ·dirt [dust] will be like ·burning sulfur [T brimstone].
Its land will be like burning ·tar [pitch].
10 The fires will ·burn [L not be quenched] night and day;
the smoke will rise from Edom forever.
·Year after year [L From generation to generation] that land will be ·empty [desolate];
no one will ever ·travel [pass] through that land again.
11 ·Birds [Desert owls; or Pelicans] and ·small animals [screech owl; or porcupine] will own that land,
and owls and ravens will live there.
·God [L He] will ·make it an empty wasteland [L stretch over it a measuring line of confusion/chaos];
·it will have nothing left in it [L and the plumb line of desolation; C like a careful craftsman, God has planned Edom’s judgment].
12 The ·important people [nobles] will have ·no one left to rule them [or nothing to call a kingdom];
the ·leaders [officials; princes] will ·all be gone [or be nothing].
13 Thorns will ·take over [overrun] the ·strong towers [strongholds; citadels],
and wild bushes will grow in the ·walled cities [fortresses].
It will be a home for ·wild dogs [jackals]
and a place for ·owls [or ostriches] to live.
14 Desert animals will live with the hyenas,
and wild goats will call to their friends.
Night animals will live there
and find a place of rest.
15 Owls will nest there and lay eggs.
When they hatch open, the owls will gather their young under their ·wings [L shadow].
Hawks will gather
with ·their own kind [or its mate].
16 ·Look at [L Search] the Lord’s scroll and read what is written there:
None of these will be missing;
none will be without its mate.
·God [L For his mouth] has given the command,
so his Spirit will gather them together.
17 God has ·divided the land among [or cast the lot for] them,
and he has ·given [measured to] them each their portion.
So they will ·own [possess] that land forever
and will live there ·year after year [from generation to generation].
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