Study

a Bible passage

Click a verse to see commentary

Select a resource above

34. Judgment Against the Nations

¹ Come 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!
² The LORD is angry with all nations;
   his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy 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.
³ Their slain will be thrown out,
   their dead bodies will stink;
   the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
⁴ All 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.

    ⁵ My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
   see, it descends in judgment on Edom,
   the people I have totally destroyed.
⁶ The 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.
⁷ And 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.

    ⁸ For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
   a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.
⁹ Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
   her dust into burning sulfur;
   her land will become blazing pitch!
¹⁰ It 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.
¹¹ The desert owl The precise identification of these birds is uncertain. and screech owl The precise identification of these birds is uncertain. will possess it;
   the great owl 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.
¹² Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
   all her princes will vanish away.
¹³ Thorns will overrun her citadels,
   nettles and brambles her strongholds.
She will become a haunt for jackals,
   a home for owls.
¹⁴ Desert 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.
¹⁵ The 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.

¹⁶ Look 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.
¹⁷ He allots their portions;
   his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
   and dwell there from generation to generation.

8 For it is the day of vengeance of Jehovah. This verse must be viewed as closely connected with the preceding verses, for it points out the object which the Lord has in view in punishing the Edomites with such severity; and that object is, that he wishes to avenge his people and defend their cause. If, therefore, he had not also assigned this reason, the former statements might have appeared to be obscure or inappropriate; for it would, have been an uncertain kind of knowledge if we did not consider that God, in punishing wicked men, testifies his unceasing affection and care to preserve his own people.

What was formerly said about the Edomites must undoubtedly be extended to the enemies of the Church, for all of them were included by the Prophet under a particular class; and, therefore, in adversity our hearts ought to be supported by this consolation, that the attacks which we now suffer shall come into judgment before God, who justly claims for himself this office. The Prophet does not only mean that it is in his power to punish wicked men whenever he thinks proper, but, that he reigns in heaven, in order to punish every kind of injustice at the proper time.

But we must attend to the words day and year, by which he reminds us that God does not sleep in heaven, though for a little time he does not come forth, but delays his vengeance till a fit season, that believers may in the meantime “possess their souls in patience,” (Luke 21:19,) and may leave him to govern according to his inscrutable wisdom.