Isaiah 34
Read Isaiah 34 (WEB)+
1Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear; the world, and everything that comes from it. 2For Yahweh is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter. 3Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up; and the mountains will melt in their blood. 4All of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree. 5For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment. 6Yahweh’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, 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. 7The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat. 8For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch. 10It won’t be quenched night nor day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever. 11But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. 12They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. 13Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. 14The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest. 15The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate. 16Search in the book of Yahweh, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. 17He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
World English Bible (public domain)
“"For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion."”
Isaiah 34:8
Summary
In Isaiah 34, the prophet delivers a message of God's impending judgment on the nations, symbolized by the land of Edom. The chapter begins with a call to the nations to hear and heed the warning of God's wrath against all earthly powers and wickedness. The imagery is stark and vivid, depicting a divine warrior adorned for battle, intent on enforcing justice. A central theme is the totality of God's judgment, which brings devastation and desolation to the land, with descriptions of earth dissolving and heavens rolling up like a scroll. This serves to illustrate the completeness and finality of divine retribution. The theological significance of this chapter rests in its reaffirmation that God is sovereign over all nations and His justice, though often long awaited, is both righteous and inevitable. It highlights the sovereignty of God, the certainty of divine justice, and the hope that comes from aligning oneself with God's will. The chapter concludes by emphasizing the permanence of His judgment, with the landscape transformed into a place inhabited by wild creatures, a metaphor for spiritual desolation.
Key Themes
Go deeper
Ask the AI about Isaiah 34
Bring your question about the chapter, the key verse, or how this passage fits the rest of Scripture.
Daily Scripture study
Get a short devotional by email
One passage, one reflection, and one practical question for the day.