Isaiah 34

1 Come near [approach, draw close], O nations [Gentiles, non-Hebrew peoples], to listen [hear and obey]; pay attention [give heed, listen carefully], O peoples [communities, nations]. Let the earth [land, ground] hear [perceive, understand], and all that fills [is full of, inhabits] it, the world [inhabited earth, global community] and all that springs from [is produced by, comes forth from] it. word study 2 The LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] is angry [having indignation, wrath] with all [every single one] the nations [Gentile, non-Hebrew peoples] and furious [having intense rage, burning anger] with all [every single one] their armies [large groups, campaigns]. He will devote [utterly destroy, put under the ban] them to destruction [a state of devastation, ruin]; He will give [deliver, set] them over to slaughter [the act of killing, a place of butchery]. word study 3 Their slain [killed, profaned, or hurt] will be left unburied [cast out, thrown away], and the stench [foul odor] of their corpses [dead bodies] will rise [ascend, go up]; the mountains [hills] will flow [melt, be washed away] with their blood [life force]. word study 4 All [the entire host of] the stars of heaven [the celestial realm, the sky] will be dissolved [to rot, decay, or fade away]. The skies [the heavens, the atmosphere] will be rolled up [folded together] like a scroll [a written document, a book], and all [every single one] their stars will fall [wither, fade away, or drop] like withered [dried up, lifeless] leaves from the vine [a grapevine], like foliage [leaves, a covering] from the fig tree [a common tree, a source of food]. word study 5 When My sword [soaked in the heavens, bathed in heaven] has drunk its fill [to quench, been satisfied] in the heavens [the visible universe, the abode of God], then it will come down [to go down, descend] upon Edom [Idumea, the region of Esau’s descendants], upon the people [a nation, a group of individuals] I have devoted [doomed, cursed] to destruction [for judgment, to judgment]. word study 6 The sword [cutting instrument, knife] of the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] is bathed in blood [the liquid that flows through the body]. It drips with fat [the richest part]— with the blood [liquid essential for life] of lambs and goats [used for sacrifice], with the fat [the best or richest part] of the kidneys [essential organs] of rams [strong and powerful]. For the LORD [Yehovah, the supreme God] has a sacrifice [offering to God] in Bozrah [a town in Edom, a sheepfold], a great [large, significant] slaughter [act of killing] in the land [earth, territory] of Edom [region, country]. word study 7 And the wild oxen [reems, unicorns] will fall with them, the young bulls [bullocks] with the strong ones [mighty, powerful]. Their land [earth, territory] will be drenched [soaked, drunken] with blood [the liquid that flows through the body], and their soil [dust, ground] will be soaked [quenched, saturated] with fat [richness, abundance]. word study 8 For the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] has a day [a literal or figurative space of time] of vengeance [revenge, punishment], a year [a period of time, a cycle of twelve months] of recompense [payment, reward, restitution] for the cause [judgment, controversy, strife] of Zion [the city of Jerusalem, God’s holy mountain]. word study 9 Edom’s streams [rivers, brooks] will be turned to tar [pitch, boiling oil], and her soil [dust, ground] to sulfur [brimstone, burning stone]; her land [earth, territory] will become a blazing [burning, on fire] pitch [asphalt, sticky substance]. word study 10 It will not [ever] be quenched—day [by day, daily] or night [a period of darkness]. Its smoke [a sign of God’s presence] will ascend [rise up, go up] forever [for all eternity, always]. From generation [a period of time, an age] to generation [a succession of people] it will lie desolate [waste, uninhabited]; no one [nothing, no person] will ever again pass [cross over, travel through] through it. word study 11 The desert owl [pelican, a bird of solitude] and screech owl [bittern] will possess [take control of, inherit] it, and the great owl [porcupine, a creature of defense] and raven [a dark and mysterious bird] will dwell [reside, make their home] in it. The LORD [the supreme God, Yehovah] will stretch out [extend, expand] over Edom [a land of conflict] a measuring line [a cord of judgment, a plumb line of justice] of chaos [formlessness, emptiness] and a plumb line [a line of precision, a measure of destruction] of destruction [desolation, devastation]. word study 12 No nobles [of high rank, pure ones] will be left to proclaim a king [to establish a kingdom], and all her princes [rulers, leaders] will come to [result in, amount to] nothing [emptiness, void]. word study 13 Her towers [citadels, strong fortresses] will be overgrown with thorns [prickly plants, unwanted growth], her fortresses [strongholds, fortified places] with thistles [thorny weeds] and briers [wild, nuisance plants]. She will become a haunt [dwelling place, home] for jackals [wild, predatory animals], an abode [courtyard, resting place] for ostriches [large, unclean birds]. word study 14 The desert creatures [wild beasts of the desert] will meet [encounter, come together] with hyenas [wild beasts of the island, Iim], and one wild goat [satyr, hairy one] will call [cry out, bleat] to another [its fellow, companion]. There [in that place, then] the night creature [Lilith, night-monster] will settle [rest, find rest] and find [discover, attain] her place of repose [resting place, quiet dwelling]. word study 15 There [in that desolate place, thither] the owl [great owl, arrow snake] will make her nest; she will lay [and bring forth young] and hatch her eggs and gather her brood [young ones, chicks] under her shadow [shade, protection]. Even there [in that same location] the birds of prey [vultures, kites, hawks] will gather, each with its mate [companion, female neighbor]. word study 16 Search [diligently, thoroughly] and read [study, examine] the scroll [book, written document] of the LORD [Yehovah, the covenant God]: Not one [none, no single one] of these will go missing [be lacking, fail to appear], not one will lack [be without, miss] her mate [companion, partner], because He has ordered [commanded, decreed] it by His mouth [words, command], and He will gather [collect, assemble] them by His Spirit [breath, divine presence]. word study 17 He [the Lord] has allotted [cast the lot for, assigned] their portion [inheritance, territory]; His hand [power, direction] has distributed [divided] it by measure [with a line, a cord]. They will possess [take ownership of, inherit] it forever [for all eternity, always]; they will dwell [live, reside] in it from generation [a period of time, an age] to generation [a group of people living at the same time]. word study