Isaiah 34–35

THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS

34You nations, come here and listen;

you peoples, pay attention!^m

Let the earth and all that fills it hear,

the world and all that comes from it.ⁿ

²The Lord is angry with all the nations,

furious with all their armies.^o

He will set them apart for destruction,^p

giving them over to slaughter.

³Their slain will be thrown out,

and the stench of their corpses will rise;^q

the mountains will flow^A with their blood.^r

⁴All^B the stars in the sky^s will dissolve.

The sky will roll up like a scroll,^t

and its stars will all wither

as leaves wither on the vine,

and foliage on the fig tree.^u

THE JUDGMENT OF EDOM

⁵When my sword has drunk its fill^Cv in the heavens,

it will then come down on Edom^w

and on the people I have set apart for destruction.

⁶The Lord’s sword is covered with blood.

It drips with fat,

with the blood of lambs and goats,

with the fat of the kidneys of rams.^x

For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,^y

a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

⁷The wild oxen will be struck^D down with them,

and young bulls with the mighty bulls.

Their land will be soaked with^E blood,

and their soil will be saturated with fat.

⁸For the Lord has a day of vengeance,^z

a time of paying back Edom

for its hostility against Zion.

⁹Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,

her soil into sulfur;^aa

her land will become burning pitch.

¹⁰It will never go out—day or night.

Its smoke will go up forever.^ab

It will be desolate, from generation to generation;

no one will pass through it forever and ever.^a

¹¹Eagle owls^A and herons^B will possess it,

and long-eared owls and ravens will dwell there.^b

The Lord will stretch out a measuring line

and a plumb line^* over her

for her destruction and chaos.^c

¹²No nobles will be left to proclaim a king,

and all her princes will come to nothing.

¹³Her palaces will be overgrown with thorns;

her fortified cities, with thistles and briers.^d

She will become a dwelling for jackals,

an abode^C for ostriches.^e

¹⁴The desert creatures will meet hyenas,

and one wild goat will call to another.

Indeed, the night birds will stay there

and will find a resting place.

¹⁵Sand partridges^D will make their nests there;

they will lay and hatch their eggs

and will gather their broods under their shadows.

Indeed, the birds of prey will gather there,

each with its mate.^f

¹⁶Search and read the scroll of the Lord:^g

Not one of them will be missing,

none will be lacking its mate,

because he has ordered it by my^E mouth,

and he will gather them by his Spirit.

¹⁷He has cast the lot for them;

his hand allotted their portion with a measuring line.

They will possess it forever;^h

they will dwell in it from generation to generation.

THE RANSOMED RETURN TO ZION

35The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;

the desert will rejoice and blossom like a wildflower.^Fi

²It will blossom abundantly

and will also rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.^j

They will see the glory of the Lord,^k

the splendor of our God.^l

³Strengthen the weak hands,

steady the shaking knees!^m

⁴Say to the cowardly:

“Be strong; do not fear!

Here is your God; vengeance is coming.ⁿ

God’s retribution is coming; he will save you.”^o

⁵Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.^p

⁶Then the lame will leap like a deer,^q

and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy,^r

for water will gush in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;^s

⁷the parched ground will become a pool,

and the thirsty land, springs.^t

In the haunt of jackals,^u in their lairs,

there will be grass, reeds, and papyrus.

⁸A road will be there and a way;^v

it will be called the Holy Way.^w

The unclean will not travel on it,^x

but it will be for the one who walks the path.^y

Fools will not wander on it.

⁹There will be no lion there,

and no vicious beast will go up on it;

they will not be found there.

But the redeemed will walk on it,

¹⁰and the ransomed of the Lord will return^z

and come to Zion with singing,

crowned with unending joy.

Joy and gladness will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee.^aa