34 Come near to me, people of all nations.
Listen carefully, everyone!
All the earth, and everything that is in it,
listen to me!
Yes, the whole world, and all who live in it,
listen carefully!
2 The Lord is angry against all the nations
and all their armies.
He has decided to destroy them,
and that is what he will do.
3 Nobody will bury the dead bodies
of those who have died in battle.
The smell of their dead bodies will be everywhere.
Their blood will pour down the mountains.
4 The stars in the sky will slowly disappear.
The sky will close up like a book.
All the stars will fall,
like dry leaves that fall from a vine.
They will drop like figs from a fig tree,
when they become dry.
5 The Lord says,
‘My sword has finished its work in the skies.
Now it will come to punish Edom.
Those are the people that I have decided to destroy.’
6 The Lord 's sword has blood all over it!
It is the blood of young sheep and goats.
It has the fat of meat on it.
It is the fat from sheep's kidneys.
Yes! The Lord is killing animals for a sacrifice in Bozrah. [ a ]
He will kill many people in Edom.
7 He will kill their wild oxen
and their young bulls. [ b ]
Blood will pour over Edom's land.
Fat will feed their soil.
8 The Lord has chosen a day for punishment.
It will be a time when he punishes Zion's enemies,
because they have attacked his people.
9 The water in Edom's streams will become tar.
Its soil will become sulphur.
Its whole land will become tar that is burning.
10 That fire will burn through the days and the nights.
Its smoke will always continue to rise up.
The land will be empty from one century to the next.
Nobody will ever travel through it again.
11 Owls, hawks and hedgehogs will live there, [ c ]
as well as all kinds of wild animals and wild birds.
The Lord will carefully measure the whole land,
so that he can destroy it.
It will become like an empty desert.
12 There will be no kingdom left for anyone to rule.
Edom's leaders and officers will all disappear.
13 Thorn bushes will grow over its palaces.
Bushes and weeds will grow over its strong cities.
Jackals and ostriches will make their homes in the land.
14 Wild animals and hyenas will meet there.
Wild goats will call out to each other.
The night monster will come there,
and she will find a place to stay.
15 Owls will build their nests there.
They will take care of their eggs
until the baby birds come out.
They will keep their babies safe under their wings.
Hawks will meet there too.
They will be together in pairs, male and female.
16 Read the Lord 's book very carefully:
‘All these animals and birds will be there.
They will all be together in pairs.
The Lord himself has commanded what must happen.
His Spirit brings them all together.’
17 The Lord has decided where each one will live.
He measures a place for every kind of animal and bird.
The land will always belong to them to live in.
It will be their home from one century to the next.
34 All you nations, come near and listen! Listen, all you people. The earth and everyone on it should listen to these things. Everything in this world should hear this. 2 The Lord is angry with all the nations and their armies. He will destroy them all and put them to death. 3 Their bodies will be thrown outside. The stink will rise from the bodies, and the blood will flow down the mountains. 4 The skies will be rolled shut like a scroll, [ a ] and the stars will die and fall like leaves from a vine or a fig tree. All the stars [ b ] in the sky will rot away. 5 The Lord says, “This will happen when my sword in the sky is covered with blood.”
Look, the Lord ’s sword will cut through Edom. He judged them guilty, and they must die. [ c ] 6 The Lord decided there should be a time for killing in Bozrah and in Edom. So the sword of the Lord is covered with blood and fat. The blood is from the “goats.” The fat is from the kidneys of the “rams.” [ d ] 7 So the rams, the cattle, and the strong bulls will be killed. The land will be filled with their blood. The dirt will be covered with their fat.
8 This will happen because the Lord has chosen a time for punishment. He has chosen a year when people must pay for the wrong they did to Zion. 9 Edom’s rivers will be like hot tar. Edom’s ground will be like burning sulfur. 10 The fires will burn day and night—no one will stop the fire. The smoke will rise from Edom forever. The land will be destroyed forever and ever. No one will ever travel through that land again. 11 Birds and small animals will own that land. It will be a home for owls and ravens. God will leave that land in ruins. People will call it “the empty desert.” [ e ] 12 The free men [ f ] and leaders will all be gone, and there will be nothing left for them to rule.
13 Thorns and wild bushes will grow in all the beautiful homes there. Wild dogs and owls will live in them. Wild animals will make their homes there. Big birds will live in the grasses that grow there. 14 Wild cats will live there with hyenas. [ g ] Wild goats [ h ] will call to their friends. Night animals [ i ] will spend some time there and find a place to rest. 15 Snakes will make their homes there and lay their eggs. The eggs will open, and small snakes will crawl from the dark places. Birds that eat dead things will gather there like women visiting their friends.
16 Look in the Lord ’s scroll and read what it says: Not one of these will be missing. Not one will be without its mate. God said he would make this happen, so his Spirit will bring them together. 17 God decided what he should do with them, and then he chose a place for them. He drew a line and showed them their land. So the animals will own that land forever. They will live there year after year.
34 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
2 For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
8 For it is the day of the Lord 's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of the book of the Lord , and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
34 Come near, ( A ) you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples!
( B ) Let the earth and [ a ] all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
2 For the Lord ’ s ( C ) anger is against all the nations,
And His wrath against all their armies.
He has [ b ] ( D ) utterly destroyed them,
He has turned them over to ( E ) slaughter.
3 So their slain will be ( F ) thrown out,
And their corpses [ c ] will give off their ( G ) stench,
And the mountains will [ d ] be drenched with their ( H ) blood.
4 And ( I ) all the heavenly [ e ] lights will [ f ] wear away,
And the ( J ) sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All its [ g ] lights will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
Or as one withers from the fig tree.
5 For ( K ) My sword has drunk its fill in heaven;
Behold it shall descend for judgment upon ( L ) Edom,
And upon the people whom I have ( M ) designated for destruction.
6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in ( N ) Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of ( O ) Edom.
7 ( P ) Wild oxen will also [ h ] fall with them
And ( Q ) young bulls with strong ones;
So their land will be ( R ) soaked with blood,
And their dust [ i ] become greasy with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of ( S ) vengeance,
A year of retribution for the [ j ] cause of Zion.
9 [ k ] Its streams will be turned into pitch,
And its loose earth into ( T ) brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
10 It will ( U ) not be extinguished night or day;
Its ( V ) smoke will go up forever.
From ( W ) generation to generation it will be desolate;
( X ) None will pass through it forever and ever.
11 But [ l ] ( Y ) pelican and hedgehog will possess it,
And [ m ] owl and raven will dwell in it;
And He will stretch over it the ( Z ) line of [ n ] desolation
And the [ o ] plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is ( AA ) no one there
Whom they may proclaim king—
And all its officials will be ( AB ) nothing.
13 Thorns will come up in its ( AC ) fortified towers,
Weeds and thistles in its fortified cities;
It will also be a haunt of ( AD ) jackals
And a habitat of ostriches.
14 The desert ( AE ) creatures will meet with the [ p ] wolves,
The [ q ] ( AF ) goat also will cry to its kind.
Yes, the [ r ] night-bird 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 [ s ] protection.
Yes, ( AG ) the [ t ] hawks will be gathered there,
Every one with its kind.
16 Seek from the ( AH ) book of the Lord , and read:
Not one of these will be missing;
None will lack its mate.
For [ u ] ( AI ) His mouth has commanded,
And His Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the ( AJ ) lot for them,
And His hand has divided it to them by the ( AK ) measuring line.
They shall possess it forever;
From ( AL ) generation to generation they will dwell in it.
34 Come near, you nations, and listen; ( A )
pay attention, you peoples! ( B )
Let the earth ( C ) hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it! ( D )
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath ( E ) is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy [ a ] ( F ) them,
he will give them over to slaughter. ( G )
3 Their slain ( H ) will be thrown out,
their dead bodies ( I ) will stink; ( J )
the mountains will be soaked with their blood. ( K )
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved ( L )
and the heavens rolled up ( M ) like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall ( N )
like withered ( O ) leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword ( P ) has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom, ( Q )
the people I have totally destroyed. ( R )
6 The sword ( S ) of the Lord is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice ( T ) in Bozrah ( U )
and a great slaughter ( V ) in the land of Edom.
7 And the wild oxen ( W ) will fall with them,
the bull calves and the great bulls. ( X )
Their land will be drenched with blood, ( Y )
and the dust will be soaked with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day ( Z ) of vengeance, ( AA )
a year of retribution, ( AB ) to uphold Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur; ( AC )
her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched ( AD ) night or day;
its smoke will rise forever. ( AE )
From generation to generation ( AF ) it will lie desolate; ( AG )
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl [ b ] ( AH ) and screech owl [ c ] will possess it;
the great owl [ d ] and the raven ( AI ) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom ( AJ )
the measuring line of chaos ( AK )
and the plumb line ( AL ) of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
all her princes ( AM ) will vanish ( AN ) away.
13 Thorns ( AO ) will overrun her citadels,
nettles and brambles her strongholds. ( AP )
She will become a haunt for jackals, ( AQ )
a home for owls. ( AR )
14 Desert creatures ( AS ) will meet with hyenas, ( AT )
and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures ( AU ) will also lie down
and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
she will hatch them, and care for her young
under the shadow of her wings; ( AV )
there also the falcons ( AW ) will gather,
each with its mate.
16 Look in the scroll ( AX ) of the Lord and read:
None of these will be missing, ( AY )
not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth ( AZ ) that has given the order, ( BA )
and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions; ( BB )
his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
and dwell there from generation to generation. ( BC )
