Isaías 34

¹ Come near, yeHe prophecies of the destruction of the Edomites and other nations which were enemies to the Church.nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is in it; the world, and all things that spring from it.

² For the indignation of the LORD [is] upon all nations, and [his] fury upon all their armies: he hath utterlyGod has determined in his counsel and has given sentence for their destruction.destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

³ And their slaine shalbe cast out, and their stincke shall come vp out of their bodies, and the mountaines shalbe melted with their blood.

⁴ And all the host of heavenHe speaks this in respect to man's judgment, who in great fear and horrible troubles, think that heaven and earth perishes.shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their hosts shall fall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree.

⁵ For my sword shall beI have determined in my secret counsel and in the heavens to destroy them till my sword is weary with shedding blood.bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people ofThey had an opinion of holiness, because they came from the patriarch Isaac, but in effect were cursed by God, and enemies to his Church as the papists are.my curse, to judgment.

⁶ The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, [and] with the blood ofThat is, both of young and old, poor and rich of his enemies.lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice inThat famous city will be consumed as a sacrifice burnt to ashes.Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

⁷ And theThe mighty and rich will be as well destroyed as the inferiors.unicorns shall come down with them, and the bulls with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

⁸ For it is the day of the Lordes vengeance, and the yeere of recompence for the iudgement of Zion.

⁹ And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust intoHe alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, (Gen_19:24).brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch.

¹⁰ It shal not be quenched night nor day: the smoke thereof shall goe vp euermore: it shall be desolate from generation to generation: none shall passe through it for euer.

¹¹ But the cormorantRead (Isa_13:21; Zep_2:14).and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line ofIn vain will any man go about to build it again.confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

¹² Meaning, here will be neither order nor policy nor state of commonwealth.They shall call her nobles to the kingdom, but none [shall be] there, and all her princes shall be nothing.

¹³ And it shall bring foorth thornes in the palaces thereof, nettles and thistles in the strong holdes thereof, and it shall be an habitation for dragons, and a court for ostriches.

¹⁴ The wild beasts of the desert shall alsoRead (Isa_13:21).meet with the wild beasts of the isle, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

¹⁵ ThereSignifying that Idumea would be a horrible desolation and barren wilderness.shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.

¹⁶ Seek ye out of theThat is, in the law where such curses are threatened against the wicked.book of the LORD, and read: no one ofThat is, beasts and souls.these shall fail, none shall lack her mate: for myThat is, the mouth of the Lord.mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

¹⁷ And he hath cast theHe has given the beasts and souls Idumea for an inheritance.lot for them, and his hand hath divided it to them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell in it.