Judgment Against the Nations
1Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5. them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
3Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will stink;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom,
the people I have totally destroyed.
6The sword of the Lord is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah
and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7And the wild oxen will fall with them,
the bull calves and the great bulls.
Their land will be drenched with blood,
and the dust will be soaked with fat.
8For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.
9Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur;
her land will become blazing pitch!
10It will not be quenched night or day;
its smoke will rise forever.
From generation to generation it will lie desolate;
no one will ever pass through it again.
11The desert owl34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain. and screech owl34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain. will possess it;
the great owl34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain. and the raven will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom
the measuring line of chaos
and the plumb line of desolation.
12Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
all her princes will vanish away.
13Thorns will overrun her citadels,
nettles and brambles her strongholds.
She will become a haunt for jackals,
a home for owls.
14Desert creatures will meet with hyenas,
and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures will also lie down
and find for themselves places of rest.
15The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
she will hatch them, and care for her young
under the shadow of her wings;
there also the falcons will gather,
each with its mate.
16Look in the scroll of the Lord and read:
None of these will be missing,
not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth that has given the order,
and his Spirit will gather them together.
17He allots their portions;
his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
and dwell there from generation to generation.
The Lord Will Judge the Nations
1Nations, come near and listen to me!
Pay attention to what I’m about to say.
Let the earth and everything in it listen.
Let the world and everything that comes out of it pay attention.
2The Lord is angry with all the nations.
His anger is against all their armies.
He will totally destroy them.
He will have them killed.
3Those who are killed won’t be buried.
Their dead bodies will be thrown on the ground.
They will stink.
Their blood will cover the mountains.
4All the stars in the sky will vanish.
The heavens will be rolled up like a scroll.
All the stars in the sky will fall like dried-up leaves from a vine.
They will drop like wrinkled figs from a fig tree.
5The sword of the Lord will finish its deadly work in the sky.
Then it will come down to strike Edom.
He will totally destroy that nation.
6His sword will be red with blood.
It will be covered with fat.
The blood will flow like the blood
of lambs and goats being sacrificed.
The fat will be like the fat
taken from the kidneys of rams.
That’s because the Lord will offer a sacrifice
in the city of Bozrah.
He will kill many people in the land of Edom.
7The people and their leaders will be killed
like wild oxen and young bulls.
Their land will be wet with their blood.
The dust will be covered with their fat.
8That’s because the Lord has set aside a day to pay Edom back.
He has set aside a year to pay them back. He will pay them back for what they did to Zion.
9The streams of Edom will be turned into tar.
Its dust will be turned into blazing sulfur.
Its land will become burning tar.
10The fire will keep burning night and day.
It can’t be put out.
Its smoke will go up forever.
Edom will lie empty for all time to come.
No one will ever travel through it again.
11The desert owl and screech owl will make it their home.
The great owl and the raven will build their nests there.
God will use his measuring line
to show how completely Edom will be destroyed.
He will use his plumb line
to show how empty Edom will become.
12Edom’s nobles won’t have anything left there
that can be called a kingdom.
All its princes will vanish.
13Thorns will cover its forts.
Bushes and weeds will cover its safest places.
It will become a home for wild dogs.
It will become a place where owls live.
14Desert creatures will meet with hyenas.
Wild goats will call out to each other.
Night creatures will also lie down there.
They will find places where they can rest.
15Owls will make their nests and lay their eggs there.
And they will hatch them.
They will take care of their little ones
under the shadow of their wings.
Male and female falcons will also gather there.
16Look in the book of the Lord. Here is what you will read there.
None of those animals will be missing.
Male and female alike will be there.
The Lord himself has commanded it.
And his Spirit will gather them together.
17The Lord will decide what part of the land goes to each animal.
Then he will give each one its share.
It will belong to them forever.
And they will live there for all time to come.
