Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
    her dust into burning sulfur;(A)
    her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched(B) night or day;
    its smoke will rise forever.(C)
From generation to generation(D) it will lie desolate;(E)
    no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl[a](F) and screech owl[b] will possess it;
    the great owl[c] and the raven(G) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom(H)
    the measuring line of chaos(I)
    and the plumb line(J) of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
    all her princes(K) will vanish(L) away.
13 Thorns(M) will overrun her citadels,
    nettles and brambles her strongholds.(N)
She will become a haunt for jackals,(O)
    a home for owls.(P)
14 Desert creatures(Q) will meet with hyenas,(R)
    and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures(S) will also lie down
    and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
    she will hatch them, and care for her young
    under the shadow of her wings;(T)
there also the falcons(U) will gather,
    each with its mate.

16 Look in the scroll(V) of the Lord and read:

None of these will be missing,(W)
    not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth(X) that has given the order,(Y)
    and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions;(Z)
    his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
    and dwell there from generation to generation.(AA)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  2. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  3. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.

I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste(A) and cut off from it all who come and go.(B) I will fill your mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines.(C) I will make you desolate forever;(D) your towns will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.(E)

10 “‘Because you have said, “These two nations and countries will be ours and we will take possession(F) of them,” even though I the Lord was there, 11 therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will treat you in accordance with the anger(G) and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them and I will make myself known among them when I judge you.(H) 12 Then you will know that I the Lord have heard all the contemptible things you have said against the mountains of Israel. You said, “They have been laid waste and have been given over to us to devour.(I) 13 You boasted(J) against me and spoke against me without restraint, and I heard it.(K) 14 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.(L) 15 Because you rejoiced(M) when the inheritance of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir,(N) you and all of Edom.(O) Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

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