Isaiah 34 (NASB2020)

God’s Wrath against Nations

1Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples!

Let the earth and 34:1 Lit its fullnessall it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.

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

And His wrath against all their armies.

He has 34:2 Lit put under the banutterly destroyed them,

He has turned them over to slaughter.

3So their slain will be thrown out,

And their corpses 34:3 Lit their stench will go upwill give off their stench,

And the mountains will 34:3 Lit dissolvebe drenched with their blood.

4And all the heavenly 34:4 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.lights will 34:4 Lit rotwear away,

And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;

All its 34:4 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.lights will also wither away

As a leaf withers from the vine,

Or as one withers from the fig tree.

5For My sword has drunk its fill in heaven;

Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom,

And upon the people whom I have designated for destruction.

6The 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 Bozrah,

And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7Wild oxen will also 34:7 Lit go downfall with them

And young bulls with strong ones;

So their land will be soaked with blood,

And their dust 34:7 Lit made fatbecome greasy with fat.

8For the Lord has a day of vengeance,

A year of retribution for the 34:8 Or controversycause of Zion.

9 34:9 I.e., Edom’sIts streams will be turned into pitch,

And its loose earth into brimstone,

And its land will become burning pitch.

10It will not be extinguished night or day;

Its smoke will go up forever.

From generation to generation it will be desolate;

None will pass through it forever and ever.

11But 34:11 Or owl; or jackdawpelican and hedgehog will possess it,

And 34:11 Or great horned owlowl and raven will dwell in it;

And He will stretch over it the line of 34:11 Or formlessnessdesolation

And the 34:11 Lit stones of voidplumb line of emptiness.

12Its nobles—there is no one there

Whom they may proclaim king—

And all its officials will be nothing.

13Thorns will come up in its fortified towers,

Weeds and thistles in its fortified cities;

It will also be a haunt of jackals

And a habitat of ostriches.

14The desert creatures will meet with the 34:14 Or howling creatureswolves,

The 34:14 Or goat demongoat also will cry to its kind.

Yes, the 34:14 Or a demon; Heb Lilithnight-bird will settle there

And will find herself a resting place.

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

And it will hatch and gather them under its 34:15 Lit shadeprotection.

Yes, the 34:15 Or kiteshawks will be gathered there,

Every one with its kind.

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

Not one of these will be missing;

None will lack its mate.

For 34:16 As in DSS; MT MyHis mouth has commanded,

And His Spirit has gathered them.

17He has cast the lot for them,

And His hand has divided it to them by the measuring line.

They shall possess it forever;

From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

Understand Isaiah 34

A verse-by-verse study of Isaiah 34: what the chapter is doing, and what three commentaries say about it. Written to be readable if this is new to you.

Read the Isaiah 34 commentary