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Isaiah Chapter 34 (WEB)

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Isaiah Chapter 34 - The LORD's Vengeance on the Nations
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1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples: let the earth hear, and the fullness of it; the world, and all things that come forth from it.

2 For Yahweh has indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he has utterly destroyed them, he has delivered them to the slaughter.

3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

4 All the host of the sky shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fades from off the vine, and as a fading [leaf] from the fig tree.

5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky: behold, it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, to judgment.

6 The sword of Yahweh is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7 The wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bulls with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

8 For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

9 The streams of [Edom] shall be turned into pitch, and the dust of it into sulfur, and the land of it shall become burning pitch.

10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke of it shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.

11 But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.

12 They shall call the nobles of it to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.

13 Thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses of it; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.

14 The wild animals of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yes, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest.

15 There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yes, there shall the kites be gathered, everyone with her mate.

16 Seek you out of the book of Yahweh, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it has commanded, and his Spirit, it has gathered them.

17 He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them by line: they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's Isaiah chapter 34 about?
It's a sweeping judgment oracle against "all nations," focused specifically on Edom (Idumea), describing its land turning into burning pitch and brimstone, permanently desolate and inhabited only by wild creatures (v1-15).
What does 'the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll' mean in verse 4?
It's a cosmic-scale image of the created order unraveling under judgment, consistent with the theme of God's spoken word governing creation found in Psalms 33:9.
What kind of place does Edom become according to this chapter?
A permanently ruined land where "none shall pass through it for ever and ever" (v10), taken over by owls, ravens, wild beasts, and satyrs instead of people (v11-15).

Today's Verse

Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

Ezekiel 17:2 | ASV

Verse Of The Day

The devastated land is left to owls, ravens, and satyrs, yet Isaiah insists none of these creatures will fail to find its mate, since the LORD's own mouth has commanded it, an act of ordering creation like Psalms 33:9 describes. The next chapter, Isaiah 35, turns this desolation into blossoming hope.