Isa 34 | EE | STEP | Come near to me, you people in all countries, and listen to me. All you people, think about what I am saying to you. Hear me, all the earth, and everything that is in it. Listen, all the world, and all that comes from it.

Isaiah 34

God punishes the people in Edom

1 Come near to me, you people in all countries, and listen to me.

All you people, think about what I am saying to you.

Hear me, all the earth, and everything that is in it.
Listen, all the world, and all that comes from it.
2 Yes! The LORD is right to be angry against every country.
And he is right to be very angry against all their armies.
The LORD will destroy them.
He will send them to their deaths.
3 Nobody will bury the dead bodies.
The dead bodies will fill the air with a very bad smell.

Their blood will go down on the mountains.

4 And every army in the skies will be like water.
And the skies will close up like a book.
And all their armies will fall
like leaves that fall from a vine.
They will fall like the fruit called figs from a fig tree.
5 When my sword has done its work in the skies,
it will come down on Edom.
There are people there that I have decided to kill.
My sword will fall on those people.
6 The LORD is right to use a sword!
He will put it into blood. He will cover it with meat.
It is the blood of young sheep and goats.
It is the meat from inside male sheep.
Yes! The LORD is right to make a sacrifice in Bozrah.
He will kill many people in the country called Edom. ^{▼▼34:6 Bozrah was an important town in Edom, to the east of Judah.}
7 And wild cows will fall with them.
Young male cows will die with old cows.
Blood will go into their land.
Meat will go into their earth.
8 The LORD has chosen a day when he will punish people.
And he is right to do that.
It will be a year when the LORD helps Zion.
And it will be a year when he punishes Zion‘s enemies.
9 The streams in sandy places in Edom will turn into pitch.
Its ground will turn into sulphur that is burning.
Its land will become pitch that is on fire.
10 Nobody will put out the fire in the day or in the night.
Smoke from the fire will rise up for a long time.
The land will be empty from one century to the next century.
Nobody will ever pass through it again.
11 But lots of hawks and hedgehogs will be there.
And owls and ravens will live there.
And the LORD will pull over it a line that measures.
It will make it without shape.
He will pull over it a special line that will make it empty.
12 Edom’s leaders will have nothing there that they can call a kingdom.
And all its officers will disappear.
13 And thorny bushes will cover its beautiful houses.
Weeds and briars will cover its castles.
The country will be a home for jackals. And ostriches will live in it.
14 Wild animals and hyenas will come together.
And wild goats will make a noise to each other.
Also, the bad female spirit called Lilith will rest there.
And she will find for herself a place in which to stay.
15 The owl will build a home there.
And she will keep her eggs there until they become baby birds.
And she will keep them safe under the shadow of her wings.
Vultures will meet there too. Each has her mate.
16 Look in the LORD‘s book and read this!
‘They will all be there.
Not one of them will be without her mate.
The LORD‘s mouth has said that those things must happen. So they will happen.
And his breath will bring them together.
17 The LORD will give their places to them.
And his hand will give those places to them with the line that measures.
They will have that country always.
They will live in it from one century to the next century.’