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.
审判列国
1列国啊，近前来听吧！
列邦啊，留心听吧！
大地和地上的万物、世界和世上的一切都要听。
2因为耶和华向列国发怒，
向他们的军队发烈怒。
祂要毁灭他们，杀尽他们。
3他们必暴尸在外，
臭气熏天，
血浸山岭。
4天上的万象必融化，
穹苍像书卷卷起；
星辰陨落，
像凋零的葡萄叶，
又像枯落的无花果。
5耶和华的刀剑在天上饱饮了血后，
必降下来惩罚祂决意要毁灭的以东人。
6祂的刀沾满了血和脂肪，
是羊羔、公山羊的血和公绵羊肾脏上的脂肪。
因为耶和华在波斯拉有祭物，
在以东有大杀戮。
7野牛和他们一同倒下，
牛犊与公牛一同被杀。
他们的土地被血浸透，
土壤被脂肪覆盖。
8因为这是耶和华报应的日子，
是祂为锡安报仇之年。
9以东的河流要变为沥青，
土壤要变成硫磺，
土地要成为燃烧的沥青，
10昼夜燃烧，浓烟滚滚，
永不止息。
以东必世世代代荒废，
永远人踪绝迹。
11老鹰和刺猬必占据那里，
猫头鹰和乌鸦必在那里做窝。
耶和华要用空虚的准绳丈量以东，
用混沌的线锤丈量它。
12以东没有一个显贵可以称王，
那里所有的首领全都消失。
13那里的宫殿荆棘丛生，
蒺藜、刺草遍布坚城，
成了野狗的巢穴和鸵鸟的住处。
14在那里，豺狼和旷野的其他走兽出没，
野山羊对叫，
夜间的怪物在那里栖息，
找到安歇之处。
15猫头鹰在那里做窝，
下蛋，孵化，
把幼鸟保护在翅膀底下，
鸷鸟也成双成对地聚集在那里。
16你们要去查考并阅读耶和华的书卷：
以上的动物必一个不少，
无一缺少配偶。
因为这是耶和华亲口说的，
祂的灵必把它们聚在一起。
17祂亲手为它们抽签，
用准绳为它们分地。
它们必永远占据那里，
世世代代住在那里。
