Isaiahchapter 34

17 verses · ASV

This chapter sends 209 cross-references outward and receives 193 — heaviest partner: Isaiah.

Chapter summary

Jehovah summons all nations and the earth itself to hear a verdict of judgment: his indignation stands against all the nations and their host, the slain are cast out, mountains melt with blood, and the heavens are rolled together as a scroll while their host fades away (vv. 1–4). His sword, drunk in heaven, descends on Edom — a sacrifice in Bozrah, in the language of lambs, goats, and rams — for Jehovah has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion (vv. 5–8). Edom's streams turn to pitch, its dust to brimstone, and its smoke goes up forever; pelican, porcupine, owl, raven, jackals, and the night-monster inherit palaces measured by the line of confusion (vv. 9–15). The book of Jehovah certifies the census: not one creature is missing, and they possess the land from generation to generation (vv. 16–17).

Drafted from Matthew Henry, Calvin, Gill, Clarke, JFB, and Barnes.

Context

Prophecy · Isaiah — see the Isaiah overview for the book's full setting.

1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it.

2 For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-tree.

5 For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

6 The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7 And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

8 For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

9 And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.