Isaiah 34–35

Chapter 34

God’s Wrath against Nations

1 Draw near, aO nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!

bLet the earth and 1all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.

2 For the Lord’s aindignation is against all the nations,

And His wrath against all their armies;

He has 1butterly destroyed them,

He has given them over to cslaughter.

3 So their slain will be athrown out,

And their corpses 1will give off their bstench,

And the mountains will 2be drenched with their cblood.

4 And aall the host of heaven will 1wear away,

And the bsky will be rolled up like a scroll;

All their hosts will also wither away

As a leaf withers from the vine,

Or as one withers from the fig tree.

5 For aMy sword is satiated in heaven,

Behold it shall descend for judgment upon bEdom

And upon the people whom I have cdevoted to destruction.

6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,

It is 1sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,

With the fat of the kidneys of rams.

For the Lord has a sacrifice in aBozrah

And a great slaughter in the land of bEdom.

7 aWild oxen will also 1fall with them

And byoung bulls with strong ones;

Thus their land will be csoaked with blood,

And their dust 2become greasy with fat.

8 For the Lord has a day of avengeance,

A year of recompense for the 1cause of Zion.

9 1Its streams will be turned into pitch,

And its loose earth into abrimstone,

And its land will become burning pitch.

10 It will anot be quenched night or day;

Its bsmoke will go up forever.

From cgeneration to generation it will be desolate;

dNone will pass through it forever and ever.

11 But 1apelican and hedgehog will possess it,

And 2owl and raven will dwell in it;

And He will stretch over it the bline of 3desolation

And the 4plumb line of emptiness.

12 Its nobles—there is ano one there

Whom they may proclaim king—

And all its princes will be bnothing.

13 Thorns will come up in its afortified towers,

Nettles and thistles in its fortified cities;

It will also be a haunt of bjackals

And an abode of ostriches.

14 The desert acreatures will meet with the 1wolves,

The 2ahairy goat also will cry to its kind;

Yes, the 3night monster will settle there

And will find herself a resting place.

15 The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there,

And it will hatch and gather them under its 1protection.

Yes, athe 2hawks will be gathered there,

Every one with its kind.

16 Seek from the abook of the Lord, and read:

Not one of these will be missing;

None will lack its mate.

For 1bHis mouth has commanded,

And His Spirit has gathered them.

17 He has cast the alot for them,

And His hand has divided it to them by bline.

They shall possess it forever;

From cgeneration to generation they will dwell in it.

Chapter 35

Zion’s Happy Future

1 The awilderness and the desert will be glad,

And the 1bArabah will rejoice and blossom;

Like the crocus

2 It will ablossom profusely

And brejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy.

The cglory of Lebanon will be given to it,

The majesty of dCarmel and Sharon.

They will see the eglory of the Lord,

The majesty of our God.

3 aEncourage the 1exhausted, and strengthen the 2feeble.

4 Say to those with aanxious heart,

“Take courage, fear not.

Behold, your God will come with bvengeance;

The crecompense of God will come,

But He will dsave you.”

5 Then the aeyes of the blind will be opened

And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

6 Then the alame will leap like a deer,

And the btongue of the mute will shout for joy.

For waters will break forth in the cwilderness

And streams in the 1Arabah.

7 The 1scorched land will become a pool

And the thirsty ground asprings of water;

In the bhaunt of jackals, its resting place,

Grass becomes reeds and rushes.

8 aA highway will be there, ba roadway,

And it will be called the Highway of cHoliness.

The unclean will not travel on it,

But it will be for him who walks that way,

And dfools will not wander on it.

9 No alion will be there,

Nor will any vicious beast go up on it;

1These will not be found there.

But bthe redeemed will walk there,

10 And athe ransomed of the Lord will return

And come with joyful shouting to Zion,

With everlasting joy upon their heads.

They will 1find gladness and joy,

And bsorrow and sighing will flee away.