⁵ And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens,
    it will fall upon Edom,
    the nation I have marked for destruction.
⁶ The sword of the Lord is drenched with blood
    and covered with fat—
with the blood of lambs and goats,
    with the fat of rams prepared for sacrifice.
Yes, the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah.
    He will make a mighty slaughter in Edom.
⁷ 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.

⁸ For it is the day of the Lord’s revenge,
    the year when Edom will be paid back for all it did to Israel.^[b]
9 The streams of Edom will be filled with burning pitch,
    and the ground will be covered with fire.
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ It will be haunted by the desert owl and the screech owl,
    the great owl and the raven.^[c]
For God will measure that land carefully;
    he will measure it for chaos and destruction.
¹² It will be called the Land of Nothing,
    and all its nobles will soon be gone.^[d]
13 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.
¹⁴ 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^[e] will come there to rest.
¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ 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.
¹⁷ He has surveyed and divided the land
    and deeded it over to those creatures.
They will possess it forever,
    from generation to generation.

The caravan moves slowly
    across the terrible desert to Egypt—
donkeys weighed down with riches
    and camels loaded with treasure—
    all to pay for Egypt’s protection.
They travel through the wilderness,
    a place of lionesses and lions,
    a place where vipers and poisonous snakes live.
All this, and Egypt will give you nothing in return.
⁷     Egypt’s promises are worthless!
Therefore, I call her Rahab—
    the Harmless Dragon.^[a]

“Because you despise what I tell you
    and trust instead in oppression and lies,
¹³ calamity will come upon you suddenly—
    like a bulging wall that bursts and falls.
In an instant it will collapse
    and come crashing down.
¹⁴ You will be smashed like a piece of pottery—
    shattered so completely that
there won’t be a piece big enough
    to carry coals from a fireplace
    or a little water from the well.”

¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
    and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
    But you would have none of it.
¹⁶ You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
    They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
    is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
¹⁷ One of them will chase a thousand of you.
    Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
    or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”

¹⁹ O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,
    you will weep no more.
He will be gracious if you ask for help.
    He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
²⁰ Though the Lord gave you adversity for food
    and suffering for drink,
he will still be with you to teach you.
    You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
²¹ Your own ears will hear him.
    Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
    whether to the right or to the left.
²² Then you will destroy all your silver idols
    and your precious gold images.
You will throw them out like filthy rags,
    saying to them, “Good riddance!”

²⁷ Look! The Lord is coming from far away,
    burning with anger,
    surrounded by thick, rising smoke.
His lips are filled with fury;
    his words consume like fire.
²⁸ His hot breath pours out like a flood
    up to the neck of his enemies.
He will sift out the proud nations for destruction.
    He will bridle them and lead them away to ruin.

²⁹ But the people of God will sing a song of joy,
    like the songs at the holy festivals.
You will be filled with joy,
    as when a flutist leads a group of pilgrims
to Jerusalem, the mountain of the Lord—
    to the Rock of Israel.
³⁰ And the Lord will make his majestic voice heard.
    He will display the strength of his mighty arm.
It will descend with devouring flames,
    with cloudbursts, thunderstorms, and huge hailstones.
³¹ At the Lord’s command, the Assyrians will be shattered.
    He will strike them down with his royal scepter.
³² And as the Lord strikes them with his rod of punishment,^[b]
    his people will celebrate with tambourines and harps.
    Lifting his mighty arm, he will fight the Assyrians.
³³ Topheth—the place of burning—
    has long been ready for the Assyrian king;
    the pyre is piled high with wood.
The breath of the Lord, like fire from a volcano,
    will set it ablaze.

Wail, you trading ships of Tarshish,
    for the harbor and houses of Tyre are gone!
The rumors you heard in Cyprus^[a]
    are all true.
² Mourn in silence, you people of the coast
    and you merchants of Sidon.
Your traders crossed the sea,^[b]
3     sailing over deep waters.
They brought you grain from Egypt^[c]
    and harvests from along the Nile.
You were the marketplace of the world.

⁴ But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon,
    for Tyre, the fortress of the sea, says,^[d]
“Now I am childless;
    I have no sons or daughters.”
⁵ When Egypt hears the news about Tyre,
    there will be great sorrow.
⁶ Send word now to Tarshish!
    Wail, you people who live in distant lands!
⁷ Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city?
    What a long history was yours!
    Think of all the colonists you sent to distant places.

⁸ Who has brought this disaster on Tyre,
    that great creator of kingdoms?
Her traders were all princes,
    her merchants were nobles.
⁹ The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it
    to destroy your pride
    and bring low all earth’s nobility.
¹⁰ Come, people of Tarshish,
    sweep over the land like the flooding Nile,
    for Tyre is defenseless.^[e]
11 The Lord held out his hand over the sea
    and shook the kingdoms of the earth.
He has spoken out against Phoenicia,^[f]
    ordering that her fortresses be destroyed.
¹² He says, “Never again will you rejoice,
    O daughter of Sidon, for you have been crushed.
Even if you flee to Cyprus,
    you will find no rest.”

¹³ Look at the land of Babylonia^[g]—
    the people of that land are gone!
The Assyrians have handed Babylon over
    to the wild animals of the desert.
They have built siege ramps against its walls,
    torn down its palaces,
    and turned it to a heap of rubble.

¹⁴ Wail, you ships of Tarshish,
    for your harbor is destroyed!

¹⁶ Take a harp and walk the streets,
    you forgotten harlot.
Make sweet melody and sing your songs
    so you will be remembered again.

What is happening?
    Why is everyone running to the rooftops?
² The whole city is in a terrible uproar.
    What do I see in this reveling city?
Bodies are lying everywhere,
    killed not in battle but by famine and disease.
³ All your leaders have fled.
    They surrendered without resistance.
The people tried to slip away,
    but they were captured, too.
⁴ That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep;
    do not try to comfort me.
Let me cry for my people
    as I watch them being destroyed.”

⁵ Oh, what a day of crushing defeat!
    What a day of confusion and terror
brought by the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    upon the Valley of Vision!
The walls of Jerusalem have been broken,
    and cries of death echo from the mountainsides.
⁶ Elamites are the archers,
    with their chariots and charioteers.
    The men of Kir hold up the shields.
⁷ Chariots fill your beautiful valleys,
    and charioteers storm your gates.
⁸ Judah’s defenses have been stripped away.
    You run to the armory^[b] for your weapons.
⁹ You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem.^[c]
    You store up water in the lower pool.
¹⁰ You survey the houses and tear some down
    for stone to strengthen the walls.
¹¹ Between the city walls, you build a reservoir
    for water from the old pool.
But you never ask for help from the One who did all this.
    You never considered the One who planned this long ago.

¹² At that time the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    called you to weep and mourn.
He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins
    and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.
¹³ But instead, you dance and play;
    you slaughter cattle and kill sheep.
    You feast on meat and drink wine.
You say, “Let’s feast and drink,
    for tomorrow we die!”

¹⁶ “Who do you think you are,
    and what are you doing here,
building a beautiful tomb for yourself—
    a monument high up in the rock?
¹⁷ For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man.
    He is going to grab you,
¹⁸ crumple you into a ball,
    and toss you away into a distant, barren land.
There you will die,
    and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless.
    You are a disgrace to your master!