Isaiah 34:5–15

⁵And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens,

it will fall upon Edom,

the nation I have marked for destruction.

⁶The sword of the Lord is drenched with blood

and covered with fat—

with the blood of lambs and goats,

with the fat of rams prepared for sacrifice.

Yes, the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah.

He will make a mighty slaughter in Edom.

⁷Even men as strong as wild oxen will die—

the young men alongside the veterans.

The land will be soaked with blood

and the soil enriched with fat.

⁸For it is the day of the Lord’s revenge,

the year when Edom will be paid back for all it did to Israel.

⁹The streams of Edom will be filled with burning pitch,

and the ground will be covered with fire.

¹⁰This judgment on Edom will never end;

the smoke of its burning will rise forever.

The land will lie deserted from generation to generation.

No one will live there anymore.

¹¹It will be haunted by the desert owl and the screech owl,

the great owl and the raven.

For God will measure that land carefully;

he will measure it for chaos and destruction.

¹²It will be called the Land of Nothing,

and all its nobles will soon be gone.

¹³Thorns will overrun its palaces;

nettles and thistles will grow in its forts.

The ruins will become a haunt for jackals

and a home for owls.

¹⁴Desert animals will mingle there with hyenas,

their howls filling the night.

Wild goats will bleat at one another among the ruins,

and night creatures will come there to rest.

¹⁵There the owl will make her nest and lay her eggs.

She will hatch her young and cover them with her wings.

And the buzzards will come,

each one with its mate.