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.
審判列國
1列國啊，近前來聽吧！
列邦啊，留心聽吧！
大地和地上的萬物、世界和世上的一切都要聽。
2因為耶和華向列國發怒，
向他們的軍隊發烈怒。
祂要毀滅他們，殺盡他們。
3他們必曝屍在外，
臭氣燻天，
血浸山嶺。
4天上的萬象必融化，
穹蒼像書卷捲起；
星辰隕落，
像凋零的葡萄葉，
又像枯落的無花果。
5耶和華的刀劍在天上飽飲了血後，
必降下來懲罰祂決意要毀滅的以東人。
6祂的刀沾滿了血和脂肪，
是羊羔、公山羊的血和公綿羊腎臟上的脂肪。
因為耶和華在波斯拉有祭物，
在以東有大殺戮。
7野牛和他們一同倒下，
牛犢與公牛一同被殺。
他們的土地被血浸透，
土壤被脂肪覆蓋。
8因為這是耶和華報應的日子，
是祂為錫安報仇之年。
9以東的河流要變為瀝青，
土壤要變成硫磺，
土地要成為燃燒的瀝青，
10晝夜燃燒，濃煙滾滾，
永不止息。
以東必世世代代荒廢，
永遠人蹤絕跡。
11老鷹和刺蝟必佔據那裡，
貓頭鷹和烏鴉必在那裡做窩。
耶和華要用空虛的準繩丈量以東，
用混沌的線錘丈量它。
12以東沒有一個顯貴可以稱王，
那裡所有的首領全都消失。
13那裡的宮殿荊棘叢生，
蒺藜、刺草遍佈堅城，
成了野狗的巢穴和鴕鳥的住處。
14在那裡，豺狼和曠野的其他走獸出沒，
野山羊對叫，
夜間的怪物在那裡棲息，
找到安歇之處。
15貓頭鷹在那裡做窩，
下蛋，孵化，
把幼鳥保護在翅膀底下，
鷙鳥也成雙成對地聚集在那裡。
16你們要去查考並閱讀耶和華的書卷：
以上的動物必一個不少，
無一缺少配偶。
因為這是耶和華親口說的，
祂的靈必把牠們聚在一起。
17祂親手為牠們抽籤，
用準繩為牠們分地。
牠們必永遠佔據那裡，
世世代代住在那裡。
