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34 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. For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath [a]utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. 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. And all the host of heaven shall [b]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. For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my [c]curse, to judgment. 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. 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.

For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And the streams [d]of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 11 But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the [e]owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the [f]plummet of emptiness. 12 [g]They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. 14 And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the [h]wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, [i]the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest. 15 There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate.

16 Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

35 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the [j]rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the [k]feeble knees. Say to them that are of a [l]fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: [m]behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the [n]glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be [o]grass with reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for [p]the redeemed: the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon; they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: 10 and the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

36 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that [q]Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. And the king of Assyria sent [r]Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field. Then came forth unto him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the [s]scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the [t]recorder.

And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? I say, thy counsel and strength for the war are but vain words: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me? Behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him. But if thou say unto me, We trust in Jehovah our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore, I pray thee, give [u]pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then canst thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 And am I now come up without Jehovah against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the [v]Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?

13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you: 15 neither let Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, [w]Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who are they among all the gods of these countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not. 22 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 34:2 Hebrew devoted.
  2. Isaiah 34:4 Or, moulder away
  3. Isaiah 34:5 Hebrew devoting, or ban.
  4. Isaiah 34:9 Hebrew thereof.
  5. Isaiah 34:11 Or, bittern
  6. Isaiah 34:11 Hebrew stones.
  7. Isaiah 34:12 Or, As for her nobles, none shall be there to proclaim the kingdom
  8. Isaiah 34:14 Hebrew howling creatures.
  9. Isaiah 34:14 Hebrew Lilith.
  10. Isaiah 35:1 Or, autumn crocus. See S. S. 2:1.
  11. Isaiah 35:3 Or, tottering
  12. Isaiah 35:4 Hebrew hasty.
  13. Isaiah 35:4 Or, behold, your God! vengeance will come, even the recompense of God
  14. Isaiah 35:7 Or, mirage
  15. Isaiah 35:7 Or, a court for reeds etc. See 34:13.
  16. Isaiah 35:8 Hebrew them.
  17. Isaiah 36:1 Hebrew Sanherib.
  18. Isaiah 36:2 The title of an Assyrian officer.
  19. Isaiah 36:3 Or, secretary
  20. Isaiah 36:3 Or, chronicler
  21. Isaiah 36:8 Or, make a wager with
  22. Isaiah 36:11 Hebrew Aramean.
  23. Isaiah 36:16 Hebrew Make with me a blessing.