Isa 34 | ESV | STEP | Draw near , O nations , to hear , and give attention , O peoples ! Let the earth hear , and all that fills it; the world , and all that comes from it.

‏ Isaiah 34

Judgment on the Nations

1 Draw near, ^aO nations, to hear,
and give attention, O peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
the world, and all that comes from it.
2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,
and furious against all their host;
he has ^bdevoted them to destruction, ^{▼▼That is, set apart ( devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5} has given them over for slaughter.
3 Their slain shall be cast out,
and ^dthe stench of their corpses shall rise;
^ethe mountains shall flow with their blood.
4 ^fAll the host of heaven shall rot away,
and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall fall,
as leaves fall from the vine,
like leaves falling from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
behold, it descends for judgment upon ^gEdom,
upon the people ^h I have devoted to destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood;
it is gorged with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
ⁱFor the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 ^jWild oxen shall ^kfall with them,
and ^lyoung steers with ^mthe mighty bulls.
Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
8 ⁿFor the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9 ^oAnd the streams of Edom ^{▼▼Hebrew her streams} shall be turned into pitch,
and her soil into sulfur;
her land shall become burning pitch.
10 Night and day ^qit shall not be quenched;
^rits smoke shall go up forever.
^sFrom generation to generation it shall lie waste;
none shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 ^tBut the hawk and the porcupine ^{▼▼The identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain} shall possess it,
the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
^vHe shall stretch the line of ^wconfusion ^{▼▼Hebrew formlessness} over it,
and the plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,
and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 ^yThorns shall grow over its strongholds,
nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of ^zjackals,
an abode for ostriches. ^{▼▼Or owls}
14 ^abAnd wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
indeed, there the night bird ^{▼▼Identity uncertain} settles
and finds for herself a resting place.
15 There the owl nests and lays
and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;
indeed, there ^adthe hawks are gathered,
each one with her mate.
16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord:
Not one of these shall be missing;
none shall be without her mate.
For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,
and his Spirit has gathered them.
17 ^aeHe has cast the lot for them;
his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;
they shall possess it forever;
from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.