HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1002
IS A IA H 3 5
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Yes, the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city
of Bozrah.
He will make a mighty slaughter in Edom.
Even men as strong as wild oxen will die—
the young men alongside the veterans.
The land will be soaked with blood
and the soil enriched with fat.
For it is the day of the Lord’s revenge,
the year when Edom will be paid back
for all it did to Israel.*
The streams of Edom will be filled with
burning pitch,
and the ground will be covered with fire.
This judgment on Edom will never end;
the smoke of its burning will rise forever.
The land will lie deserted from generation
to generation.
No one will live there anymore.
It will be haunted by the desert owl and
the screech owl,
the great owl and the raven.*
For God will measure that land carefully;
he will measure it for chaos and
destruction.
It will be called the Land of Nothing,
and all its nobles will soon be gone.*
Thorns will overrun its palaces;
nettles and thistles will grow in its forts.
The ruins will become a haunt for jackals
and a home for owls.
Desert animals will mingle there with
hyenas,
their howls filling the night.
Wild goats will bleat at one another among
the ruins,
and night creatures* will come there
to rest.
There the owl will make her nest and lay
her eggs.
She will hatch her young and cover them
with her wings.
And the buzzards will come,
each one with its mate.
Search the book of the Lord,
and see what he will do.
Not one of these birds and animals will be
missing,
and none will lack a mate,
for the Lord has promised this.
His Spirit will make it all come true.
He has surveyed and divided the land
and deeded it over to those creatures.
They will possess it forever,
from generation to generation.
Hope for Restoration
1 Even the wilderness and desert will
be glad in those days.
The wasteland will rejoice and blossom
with spring crocuses.
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Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers
and singing and joy!
The deserts will become as green as the
mountains of Lebanon,
as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain
of Sharon.
There the Lord will display his glory,
the splendor of our God.
With this news, strengthen those who
have tired hands,
and encourage those who have weak
knees.
Say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, and do not fear,
for your God is coming to destroy your
enemies.
He is coming to save you.”
And when he comes, he will open the eyes
of the blind
and unplug the ears of the deaf.
The lame will leap like a deer,
and those who cannot speak will sing
for joy!
Springs will gush forth in the wilderness,
and streams will water the wasteland.
The parched ground will become a pool,
and springs of water will satisfy the
thirsty land.
Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will
flourish
where desert jackals once lived.
And a great road will go through that
once deserted land.
It will be named the Highway of
Holiness.
Evil-minded people will never travel on it.
It will be only for those who walk in
God’s ways;
fools will never walk there.
Lions will not lurk along its course,
nor any other ferocious beasts.
There will be no other dangers.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.
Those who have been ransomed by the
Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem* singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and
gladness.
Assyria Invades Judah
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign,* King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah
and conquered them. 2 Then the king of Assyria
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34:8 Hebrew to Zion. 34:11 The identification of some of
these birds is uncertain. 34:12 The meaning of the Hebrew
is uncertain. 34:14 Hebrew Lilith, possibly a reference to a
mythical demon of the night. 35:10 Hebrew Zion. 36:1 The
fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign was 701 b.c.