Chapter 34

Translation and Transliteration of

Listen to this chapter in Hebrew:

1Approach, O nations, and listen,Give heed, O peoples! Let the earth and those in it hear; The world, and what it brings forth.

אקִרְבוּ גוֹיִם לִשְׁמֹעַ וּלְאֻמִּים הַקְשִׁיבוּ תִּשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ וּמְלֹאָהּ תֵּבֵל וְכָל־צֶאֱצָאֶיהָ׃

2For Hashem is angry at all the nations, Furious at all their host; He has doomed them, consigned them to slaughter.

בכִּי קֶצֶף לַיהֹוָה עַל־כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם וְחֵמָה עַל־כָּל־צְבָאָם הֶחֱרִימָם נְתָנָם לַטָּבַח׃

3Their slain shall be left lying, And the stench of their corpses shall mount; And the hills shall be drenched with their blood,

גוְחַלְלֵיהֶם יֻשְׁלָכוּ וּפִגְרֵיהֶם יַעֲלֶה בָאְשָׁם וְנָמַסּוּ הָרִים מִדָּמָם׃

4All the host of heaven shall molder. The heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, And all their host shall wither Like a leaf withering on the vine, Or shriveled fruit on a fig tree.

דוְנָמַקּוּ כָּל־צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם וְנָגֹלּוּ כַסֵּפֶר הַשָּׁמָיִם וְכָל־צְבָאָם יִבּוֹל כִּנְבֹל עָלֶה מִגֶּפֶן וּכְנֹבֶלֶת מִתְּאֵנָה׃

5For My sword shall be drunk in the sky; Lo, it shall come down upon Edom, Upon the people I have doomed, To wreak judgment.

הכִּי־רִוְּתָה בַשָּׁמַיִם חַרְבִּי הִנֵּה עַל־אֱדוֹם תֵּרֵד וְעַל־עַם חֶרְמִי לְמִשְׁפָּט׃

6Hashem has a sword; it is sated with blood, It is gorged with fat— The blood of lambs and he-goats, The kidney fat of rams. For Hashem holds a sacrifice in Bozrah, A great slaughter in the land of Edom.

וחֶרֶב לַיהֹוָה מָלְאָה דָם הֻדַּשְׁנָה מֵחֵלֶב מִדַּם כָּרִים וְעַתּוּדִים מֵחֵלֶב כִּלְיוֹת אֵילִים כִּי זֶבַח לַיהֹוָה בְּבָצְרָה וְטֶבַח גָּדוֹל בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם׃

7Wild oxen shall fall with them, Young bulls with mighty steers; And their land shall be drunk with blood, Their soil shall be saturated with fat.

זוְיָרְדוּ רְאֵמִים עִמָּם וּפָרִים עִם־אַבִּירִים וְרִוְּתָה אַרְצָם מִדָּם וַעֲפָרָם מֵחֵלֶב יְדֻשָּׁן׃

8For it is Hashem's day of retribution, The year of vindication for Tzion's cause.

חכִּי יוֹם נָקָם לַיהֹוָה שְׁנַת שִׁלּוּמִים לְרִיב צִיּוֹן׃

9Its streams shall be turned to pitch And its soil to sulfur. Its land shall become burning pitch,

טוְנֶהֶפְכוּ נְחָלֶיהָ לְזֶפֶת וַעֲפָרָהּ לְגָפְרִית וְהָיְתָה אַרְצָהּ לְזֶפֶת בֹּעֵרָה׃

10Night and day it shall never go out; Its smoke shall rise for all time. Through the ages it shall lie in ruins; Through the aeons none shall traverse it.

ילַיְלָה וְיוֹמָם לֹא תִכְבֶּה לְעוֹלָם יַעֲלֶה עֲשָׁנָהּ מִדּוֹר לָדוֹר תֶּחֱרָב לְנֵצַח נְצָחִים אֵין עֹבֵר בָּהּ׃

11Jackdaws and owls shall possess it; Great owls and ravens shall dwell there. He shall measure it with a line of chaos And with weights of emptiness.

יאוִירֵשׁוּהָ קָאַת וְקִפּוֹד וְיַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב יִשְׁכְּנוּ־בָהּ וְנָטָה עָלֶיהָ קַו־תֹהוּ וְאַבְנֵי־בֹהוּ׃

12It shall be called, “No kingdom is there,” Its nobles and all its lords shall be nothing.

יבחֹרֶיהָ וְאֵין־שָׁם מְלוּכָה יִקְרָאוּ וְכָל־שָׂרֶיהָ יִהְיוּ אָפֶס׃

13Thorns shall grow up in its palaces, Nettles and briers in its strongholds. It shall be a home of jackals, An abode of ostriches.

יגוְעָלְתָה אַרְמְנֹתֶיהָ סִירִים קִמּוֹשׂ וָחוֹחַ בְּמִבְצָרֶיהָ וְהָיְתָה נְוֵה תַנִּים חָצִיר לִבְנוֹת יַעֲנָה׃

14Wildcats shall meet hyenas, Goat-demons shall greet each other; There too the lilith shall repose And find herself a resting place.

ידוּפָגְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת־אִיִּים וְשָׂעִיר עַל־רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא אַךְ־שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנוֹחַ׃

15There the arrow-snake shall nest and lay eggs, And shall brood and hatch in its shade. There too the buzzards shall gather With one another.

טושָׁמָּה קִנְּנָה קִפּוֹז וַתְּמַלֵּט וּבָקְעָה וְדָגְרָה בְצִלָּהּ אַךְ־שָׁם נִקְבְּצוּ דַיּוֹת אִשָּׁה רְעוּתָהּ׃

16Search and read it in the scroll of Hashem: Not one of these shall be absent, Not one shall miss its fellow. For His mouth has spoken, It is His spirit that has assembled them,

dir-SHU may-al SAY-fer a-do-NAI uk-RA-u a-KHAT may-HAY-nah LO ne-DA-rah i-SHAH r'-u-TAH LO fa-KA-du kee FEE HU tzi-VAH v'-ru-KHO HU ki-b'-TZAN

טזדִּרְשׁוּ מֵעַל־סֵפֶר יְהֹוָה וּקְרָאוּ אַחַת מֵהֵנָּה לֹא נֶעְדָּרָה אִשָּׁה רְעוּתָהּ לֹא פָקָדוּ כִּי־פִי הוּא צִוָּה וְרוּחוֹ הוּא קִבְּצָן׃

34:16 Search and read it in the scroll of Hashem

Rashi (1040-1105)

Yeshayahu states that a reading of “the scroll of Hashem” will reveal that none of the animals “shall be absent.” Rashi suggests that this “scroll of Hashem” refers to Sefer Bereishit, which describes how every creature and its mate was gathered to Noach in the ark at the time of the flood. Since these animals heeded Hashem’s command to come to the ark, not one of them went missing. The message, then, is clear. If even animals are capable of obeying divine decrees and thereby rewarded with protection, then how much more so should humanity be willing to listen to Hashem’s word.

17And it is He who apportioned it to them by lot, Whose hand divided it for them with the line. They shall possess it for all time, They shall dwell there through the ages.

יזוְהוּא־הִפִּיל לָהֶן גּוֹרָל וְיָדוֹ חִלְּקַתָּה לָהֶם בַּקָּו עַד־עוֹלָם יִירָשׁוּהָ לְדוֹר וָדוֹר יִשְׁכְּנוּ־בָהּ׃