Isaiah 34–35

Judgment on the Nations

34Come ^anear, you nations, to hear;

And heed, you people!

^bLet the earth hear, and all that is in it,

The world and all things that come forth from it.

²For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations,

And His fury against all their armies;

He has utterly destroyed them,

He has given them over to the ^cslaughter.

³Also their slain shall be thrown out;

^dTheir stench shall rise from their corpses,

And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

^4eAll the host of heaven shall be dissolved,

And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll;

^fAll their host shall fall down

As the leaf falls from the vine,

And as ^gfruit falling from a fig tree.

⁵“For ^hMy sword shall be bathed in heaven;

Indeed it ⁱshall come down on Edom,

And on the people of My curse, for judgment.

⁶The ^jsword of the Lord is filled with blood,

It is made ¹overflowing with fatness,

With the blood of lambs and goats,

With the fat of the kidneys of rams.

For ^kthe Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,

And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

⁷The wild oxen shall come down with them,

And the young bulls with the mighty bulls;

Their land shall be soaked with blood,

And their dust ²saturated with fatness.”

⁸For it is the day of the Lord’s ^lvengeance,

The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

^9mIts streams shall be turned into pitch,

And its dust into brimstone;

Its land shall become burning pitch.

¹⁰It shall not be quenched night or day;

ⁿIts smoke shall ascend forever.

^oFrom generation to generation it shall lie waste;

No one shall pass through it forever and ever.

^11pBut the ³pelican and the ⁴porcupine shall possess it,

Also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.

And ^qHe shall stretch out over it

The line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.

¹²They shall call its nobles to the kingdom,

But none shall be there, and all its princes shall be nothing.

¹³And ^rthorns shall come up in its palaces,

Nettles and brambles in its fortresses;

^sIt shall be a habitation of jackals,

A courtyard for ostriches.

¹⁴The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the ⁵jackals,

And the wild goat shall bleat to its companion;

Also ⁶the night creature shall rest there,

And find for herself a place of rest.

¹⁵There the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs

And hatch, and gather them under her shadow;

There also shall the hawks be gathered,

Every one with her mate.

¹⁶“Search from ^tthe book of the Lord, and read:

Not one of these shall fail;

Not one shall lack her mate.

For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them.

¹⁷He has cast the lot for them,

And His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line.

They shall possess it forever;

From generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”

The Future Glory of Zion

35The ^awilderness and the ¹wasteland shall be glad for them,

And the ^bdesert ²shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;

^2cIt shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,

Even with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the ^dglory of the Lord,

The excellency of our God.

^3eStrengthen the ³weak hands,

And make firm the ⁴feeble knees.

⁴Say to those who are fearful-hearted,

“Be strong, do not fear!

Behold, your God will come with ^fvengeance,

With the recompense of God;

He will come and ^gsave you.”

⁵Then the ^heyes of the blind shall be opened,

And ⁱthe ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

⁶Then the ^jlame shall leap like a deer,

And the ^ktongue of the dumb sing.

For ^lwaters shall burst forth in the wilderness,

And streams in the desert.

⁷The parched ground shall become a pool,

And the thirsty land springs of water;

In ^mthe habitation of jackals, where each lay,

There shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

⁸A ⁿhighway shall be there, and a road,

And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.

^oThe unclean shall not pass over it,

But it shall be for others.

Whoever walks the road, although a fool,

Shall not go astray.

^9pNo lion shall be there,

Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it;

It shall not be found there.

But the redeemed shall walk there,

¹⁰And the ^qransomed of the Lord shall return,

And come to Zion with singing,

With everlasting joy on their heads.

They shall obtain joy and gladness,

And ^rsorrow and sighing shall flee away.