Sermon Central
Isaiah 24:1-35:1
View Full ChapterThe LORD’s Devastation of the Earth 1See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants—
2it will be the same for priest as for people, for the master as for his servant, for the mistress as for her servant, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor.
3The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The LORD has spoken this word.
4The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the heavens languish with the earth.
5The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.
6Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.
7The new wine dries up and the vine withers; all the merrymakers groan.
8The joyful timbrels are stilled, the noise of the revelers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent.
9No longer do they drink wine with a song; the beer is bitter to its drinkers.
10The ruined city lies desolate; the entrance to every house is barred.
11In the streets they cry out for wine; all joy turns to gloom, all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.
12The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces.
13So will it be on the earth and among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.
14They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the LORD ’s majesty.
15Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD ; exalt the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea.
16From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I waste away, I waste away! Woe to me! The treacherous betray! With treachery the treacherous betray!”
17Terror and pit and snare await you, people of the earth.
18Whoever flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit; whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare. The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake.
19The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken.
20The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again.
21In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below.
22They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison and be punished
Praise to the LORD 1LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.
2You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
3Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall
5and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.
6On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;
8he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.
9In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
10The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain; but Moab will be trampled in their land as straw is trampled down in the manure.
11They will stretch out their hands in it, as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim. God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness
A Song of Praise 1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts.
2Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.
3You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
4Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.
5He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.
6Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor.
7The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
8Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
9My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
10But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the LORD .
11LORD, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.
12LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
13LORD our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor.
14They are now dead, they live no more; their spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them.
15You have enlarged the nation, LORD ; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land.
16LORD, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer.
17As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, LORD .
18We were with child, we writhed in labor, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life.
19But your dead will live, LORD ; their bodies will rise— let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy— your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
20Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. 21See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer.
Deliverance of Israel 1In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword— his fierce, great and powerful sword— Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
2In that day— “Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
3I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.
4I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire.
5Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me.”
6In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.
7Has the LORD struck her as he struck down those who struck her? Has she been killed as those were killed who killed her?
8By warfare
9By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones to be like limestone crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles
10The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
11When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor. 12In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one. 13And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah 1Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley— to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!
2See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground.
3That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, will be trampled underfoot.
4That fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley, will be like figs ripe before harvest— as soon as people see them and take them in hand, they swallow them.
5In that day the LORD Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people.
6He will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.
8All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.
9“Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast?
10For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that
11Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people,
12to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”— but they would not listen.
13So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there— so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured.
14Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood
16So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
17I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.
18Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.
19As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.
20The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.
21The LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon— to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task.
22Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the LORD Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land.
23Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.
24When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
25When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place,
26His God instructs him and teaches him the right way.
27Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick.
28Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain. 29All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.
Woe to David’s City 1Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on.
2Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.
3I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you.
4Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.
5But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,
6the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
7Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night—
8as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.
9Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer.
10The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers). 11For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”
12Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
13The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
14Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
15Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”
16You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”?
17In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field seem like a forest?
18In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD ; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
21those who with a word make someone out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.
22Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale.
23When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. 24Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction.”
Woe to the Obstinate Nation 1“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
2who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace.”
6A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation,
7to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.
9For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD ’s instruction.
10They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
11Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”
12Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit,
13this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
16You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.”
18Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! 19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
22Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!” 23He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill.
26The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
27See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction; he places in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray.
29And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.
30The LORD will cause people to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
31The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria; with his rod he will strike them down.
32Every stroke the LORD lays on them with his punishing club will be to the music of timbrels and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm. 33Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt 1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD .
2Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against that wicked nation, against those who help evildoers.
3But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together.
4This is what the LORD says to me: “As a lion growls, a great lion over its prey— and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor— so the LORD Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
5Like birds hovering overhead, the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.” 6Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against.
7For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.
8“Assyria will fall by no human sword; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor. 9Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
The Kingdom of Righteousness 1See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.
2Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
5No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the LORD ; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
8But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.
The Women of Jerusalem 9You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say!
10In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you daughters who feel secure! Strip off your fine clothes and wrap yourselves in rags.
12Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines
13and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry.
14The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16The LORD ’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field.
17The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.
18My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.
19Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely, 20how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.
Distress and Help 1Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.
2LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
3At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
5The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
6He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.
7Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses
9The land dries up and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
10“Now will I arise,” says the LORD . “Now will I be exalted; now will I be lifted up.
11You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12The peoples will be burned to ashes; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze.”
13You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
15Those who walk righteously and speak what is right, who reject gain from extortion and keep their hands from accepting bribes, who stop their ears against plots of murder and shut their eyes against contemplating evil—
16they are the ones who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Their bread will be supplied, and water will not fail them.
17Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.
18In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: “Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?”
19You will see those arrogant people no more, people whose speech is obscure, whose language is strange and incomprehensible.
20Look on Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
21There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.
22For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.
23Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder. 24No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.
Judgment Against the Nations 1Come 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!
2The LORD is angry with all nations; his wrath is on all their armies. He will totally destroy
3Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will stink; the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4All 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.
5My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed.
6The 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.
7And 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.
8For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.
9Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch!
10It 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.
11The desert owl
12Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom, all her princes will vanish away.
13Thorns will overrun her citadels, nettles and brambles her strongholds. She will become a haunt for jackals, a home for owls.
14Desert 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.
15The 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.
16Look 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. 17He allots their portions; his hand distributes them by measure. They will possess it forever and dwell there from generation to generation.
Joy of the Redeemed 1The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus,