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In this chapter we have the fatal doom of all the nations that are enemies to God's church and people, though Edom only is mentioned, because of the old enmity of Esau to Jacob, which was typical, as much as that more ancient enmity of Cain to Abel, and flowed from the original enmity of the serpent to the seed of the woman. It is probable that this prophecy had its accomplishment in the great desolations made by the Assyrian army first, or rather by Nebuchadnezzar's army some time after, among those nations that were neighbours to Israel and had been in some way or other injurious to them. That mighty conqueror took a pride in shedding blood, and laying countries waste, and therein, quite beyond his design, he was fulfilling what God here threatened against his and his people's enemies. But we have reason to think it is intended as a denunciation of the wrath of God against all those who fight against the interests of his kingdom among men, that it has its frequent accomplishment in the havoc made by the wars of the nations and other desolating judgments, and will have its full accomplishment in the final dissolution of all things at the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Here is, I. A demand of universal attention, Isa 34:1. II. A direful scene of blood and confusion presented, Isa 34:2-7. III. The reason given for these judgments, Isa 34:8. IV. The continuance of this desolation, the country being made like the lake of Sodom (Isa 34:9,10), and the cities abandoned to wild beasts and melancholy fowls, Isa 34:11-15. V. The solemn ratification of all this, Isa 34:16,17. Let us hear, and fear.
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Threatenings against God's Enemies (720 BC)
简体中文
对神仇敌的威吓（主前720年）
¹ 列国啊，要近前来听！众民哪，要侧耳而听！地和其上所充满的，世界和其中一切所出的，都应当听！
² 因为耶和华向万国发忿恨，向他们的全军发烈怒，将他们灭尽，交他们当杀的。
³ 被杀的必然抛弃，尸首臭气上腾；诸山被他们的血融化。
⁴ 天上的万象都要消没；天被卷起，好像书卷。其上的万象要残败，像葡萄树的叶子残败，又像无花果树的叶子残败。
⁵ 因为我的刀在天上已经喝足；看哪，它要落在以东，和我所咒诅的民身上，要施行审判。
⁶ 耶和华的刀满了血，用脂油和小羊与公山羊的血，并公绵羊腰子的脂油；因为耶和华在波斯拉有献祭，在以东地有大屠杀。
⁷ 野牛、牛犊和公牛都必一同下来；他们的地喝醉了血，他们的尘土因脂油成为肥润。
⁸ 因这是耶和华报仇的日子，为锡安的争辩，有报应之年。
此处我们读到的是一段预言，正如别处我们读到的是一段历史，论及耶和华的争战——我们可以确信，这些争战全都既公义又必得胜。这个世界既是神的受造物，他就向它行善；但既属于撒但的利益阵营（撒但被称为「这世界的神」），神便与它争战。
一、号角吹响，争战宣告（赛 34:1）。列国都当听见、侧耳而听，这不仅因为神将要行的事极值得他们留意（如赛 33:13），更因为他们都与这事相关；与他们神才有争端；向他们神才在烈怒中出来。当叫他们都注意，大而可畏的神向他们发怒了；他的烈怒临到万国，因此愿万国都近前来听。「角声在城中吹响」（摩 3:6），「墙上的守望者呼喊：听角的声吧」（耶 6:17）。「愿地和其中所充满的都听，因为它是耶和华的」（诗 24:1），理当听从造它、主宰它的主。世界当听，并「其中一切所出的」，就是那出于地、属乎地的世人，从地而出，也必归回地；或说连地上无生命的出产也被呼唤，因为它们比那些心硬抗拒神呼召的罪人更肯听。「众山啊，当听耶和华的争辩」（弥 6:2）。这争辩如此公义，以致可以放心地向全地上诉其公正。
二、宣战文告在此颁布，宣告：
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他向谁开战（赛 34:2）：「耶和华的烈怒临到万国」；他们都结盟抵挡神和真信仰，都站在魔鬼的利益一边，因此神向他们众人发怒，甚至向一切忘记他的国民发怒。他长久「任凭万国各行其道」（徒 14:16），但如今他不再缄默。他们既都享受过他忍耐的益处，如今也都必感受他的报应。他的烈怒特别「临到他们的一切军队」，（1）因为他们借军队苦害了神的子民；正是军队向他们大行杀戮，因此他们必被给他们血喝。（2）因为他们借军队指望抵挡神的公义与权能；他们以军队为倚靠，所以神的烈怒必首先临到军队。在神的烈怒面前，军队不过是吞灭烈火前的干草，无论多么人多势众、勇猛无畏。
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他为谁开战，开战的理由和根据是什么（赛 34:8）：「这是耶和华报仇的日子」，他就是那「属乎报仇的」主，且他「报仇总不偏不义」（罗 3:5）。正如有耶和华忍耐的日子，也必有他报仇的日子；因为虽然他长久宽容，总不会永远宽容。「这是为锡安争辩的报应之年」。锡安是圣城，是我们严肃会的城，是世上神教会的预表和形象。锡安与她四邻有正当争端，因他们亏待了她，因他们一切背信弃义、野蛮残暴的对待——玷污她的圣物，毁坏她的宫殿，杀害她的众子。她已将此事交托神来为她申冤，到了眷顾锡安的时候——就是所定的日子——神必向逼迫压迫她的人报应他们向她所行的一切恶。争辩将作出裁决：锡安确实受了屈枉，在其中锡安的神自己也受了亵渎。在此基础上将宣告判语，并付诸执行。当注意，在神的旨意中，有一预定之时为教会的拯救和她仇敌的毁灭，即「救赎之年」，它必来到，「为锡安争辩的报应之年」；我们必须忍耐等候那日，「在时候未到之前什么都不要论断」。
三、战争的行动和方法在此确定，且有无误的成功保证。1. 耶和华的刀「在天上已经喝足」；这就是此处为争战所作的一切预备（赛 34:5）。这或许是指他们当时把刀浸在某种液体中以增硬或增亮的风俗；这与「磨亮它，使它发光」（结 21:9-11）意思相同。神的刀在天上浸透——在他的旨意和定旨中，在他的公义和权能中——在他面前便无可站立的。2. 「它要落下来」。他所定的，必无失误地执行。它要从天而降，降下的处所越高，落下便越重。它要「落在以东，我所咒诅的民身上」，就是那躺在他咒诅之下、被定灭亡的民。那些因罪使自己成为神所咒诅之民的人，永远有祸了；因为耶和华的刀必无误地伴随耶和华的咒诅，执行其判语；他所咒诅的，实在是咒诅了。它要「为审判」而落，向罪人执行审判。当注意，神争战的刀始终是公义的刀。论到那口中所出利剑的那位，经上说「他凭着公义审判、争战」（启 19:11,15）。3. 列国和他们的军队必被交在刀下（赛 34:2）：「神将他们交当杀的」，他们便不能自救，他们一切朋友也无法救他们脱离。只有神所交当杀的才被杀，因为死亡的钥匙在他手中；他交他们当杀时，便是「将他们灭尽」了；神既定意灭他们，他们的灭亡便如已被灭尽一样确定无误。神已借着这话（启 13:10）——「用刀杀人的，必被刀所杀，因为主是公义的」——实际上将教会一切残忍的仇敌都交给了屠杀。4. 按此判语，他们中间必有大屠杀（赛 34:6）：耶和华的刀奉命落下时，杀伤极大；它「满了血」——饱足、饱饫了被杀之人的血——「用他们的脂油成为肥润」。当神被滥用的怜悯和忍耐之日过去，他公义的刀不再留情，一个也不放过。人因罪失去了人性本有的尊严，使自己如同必死的走兽；因此公义上便不给他们当属于人性的怜悯与尊重，把他们像走兽一样宰杀，杀一军的人不比宰一群羔羊或公山羊、享用公绵羊腰子的脂油更费事。不但如此，耶和华的刀不仅杀尽羔羊和山羊——他们军队的步兵，可怜的普通士兵——而且（赛 34:7）连「野牛」也必与他们「一同下来」，「牛犊与公牛」也一同，无论它们多么骄傲、强壮、凶猛（「大人、勇士、将军」启 6:15），耶和华的刀都必把它们当作羔羊山羊一般轻易捕杀。在伟大之神的震怒面前，最大的人物也算不得什么。请看将有何等血腥的作为：「他们的地喝醉了血」，如同屡屡降在其上、丰沛无比的雨水；「他们的尘土」，就是那干旱荒芜之地，必因人在全盛之时被杀的脂油「成为肥润」，如同肥料。不但如此，连「诸山」，虽坚硬多石，也必「被他们的血融化」（赛 34:3）。这些说法都是夸张笔法（如约翰所看见「血到马的嚼环」之异象，启 14:20），之所以如此使用，是因为它们听来令人毛骨悚然（一想到如此多的人血便不禁战栗），因此恰切地表达了神震怒的可畏——这震怒超过想象与言辞所能表达。请看罪与震怒即便在今世也作了何等可怕的工作，并当思想将来的震怒更加可怕何如——它要把野牛也牵到坑闸之处。5. 这场大屠杀将是向神公义献上的一场大祭（赛 34:6）：「耶和华在波斯拉有献祭」；在那里大救赎主的「衣服染红了」（赛 63:1）。献祭本是为尊荣神，显明他恨恶罪恶，要求为其满足，而且非血不能赎罪；为这些目的，这场屠杀才进行，使「神的震怒从天上显明在一切不虔不义的人身上」，尤其是他们对他子民不虔不义的敌意——这正是以东人臭名昭著地犯下的罪。在大祭中要宰杀大量牲畜，献上成百之物，将其血倾倒在坛前；耶和华报仇之日也必如此。若不是耶稣基督这伟大的挽回祭为我们流了血，全地都要被罪人之血浸透了；但弃绝他、不肯借那祭与神立约的人，自己必如祭牲倒于神的震怒之下。被定罪的罪人是永远的祭物（可 9:48,49）。「不献祭的」（这是恶人的特征，传 9:2）必被献为祭。6. 这些被杀的人对人类必成为可憎之物，曾经是他们的恐惧，如今必成为他们的厌恶（赛 34:3）：「他们被抛弃」，无人以体面的埋葬来给予他们尊重；「尸首臭气上腾」，使万民因那可憎的臭味以及可怖的景象，对罪生出愤恨，对神的震怒生出畏惧。他们不得埋葬，好叫他们作为神公义的纪念碑长存。7. 这场屠杀的结果与后果将是普世性的混乱和荒凉，仿佛整个自然秩序都被解体、熔化（赛 34:4）：「天上的万象都要衰残废去」（原文如此）；太阳要变黑，月亮要变暗，或变为血；「天」本身要「如书卷被卷起」，就是当我们用完一卷羊皮纸将其搁置之时，或如被火烤得蜷缩之时。星辰要如秋叶坠落；被灭之国的一切荣美、喜乐和安慰都要丧失、消没，政权和官长要被废除，除了争战之刀以外的一切统治和权柄都要倒塌。古时的征服者惯于把所征服的国家变为荒场；如此彻底的荒凉在此以这样的比喻性语言描述，而它在末了万物解体之时还要有字面而完全的应验——神如今有时在罪人国家中所施行的审判，是那末日审判的预像、初熟之果和前奏；我们当因此受警醒去思想那日，故此这些说法在此处与启 6:12,13 都被使用。但它们在彼后 3:10 是不带比喻地使用的：「天必大有响声废去，地也必被烧尽。」
英語原文
Threatenings against God's Enemies (720 BC)
¹ Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
² For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
³ Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
⁴ And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
⁵ For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
⁶ The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
⁷ And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
⁸ For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
Here we have a prophecy, as elsewhere we have a history, of the wars of the Lord, which we are sure are all both righteous and successful. This world, as it is his creature, he does good to; but as it is in the interest of Satan, who is called the god of this world, he fights against it.
I. Here is the trumpet sounded and the war proclaimed, Isa 34:1. All nations must hear and hearken, not only because what God is about to do is well worthy their remark (as Isa 33:13), but because they are all concerned in it; it is with them that God has a quarrel; it is against them that God is coming forth in wrath. Let them all take notice that the great God is angry with them; his indignation is upon all nations, and therefore let all nations come near to hear. The trumpet is blown in the city (Am 3:6), and the watchmen on the walls cry, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet, Jer 6:17. Let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof, for it is the Lord's (Ps 24:1) and ought to hearken to its Maker and Master. The world must hear, and all things that come forth of it, the children of men, that are of the earth earthy, come out of it, and must return to it; or the inanimate products of the earth are called to, as more likely to hearken than sinners, whose hearts are hardened against the calls of God. Hear, O you mountains! the Lord's controversy, Mic 6:2. It is so just a controversy that all the world may be safely appealed to concerning the equity of it.
II. Here is the manifesto published, setting forth,
1. Whom he makes war against (Isa 34:2): The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations; they are all in confederacy against God and religion, all in the interests of the devil, and therefore he is angry with them all, even with all the nations that forget him. He has long suffered all nations to walk in their own ways (Ac 14:16), but now he will no longer keep silence. As they have all had the benefit of his patience, so they must all expect now to feel his resentments. His fury is in a special manner upon all their armies, (1.) Because with them they have done mischief to the people of God; those are they that have made bloody work with them, and therefore they must be sure to have blood given them to drink. (2.) Because with them they hope to make their part good against the justice and power of God they trust to them as their defence, and therefore on them, in the first place, God's fury will come. Armies before God's fury are but as dry stubble before a consuming fire, though ever so numerous and courageous.
2. Whom he makes war for, and what are the grounds and reasons of the war (Isa 34:8): It is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and he it is to whom vengeance belongs, and who is never unrighteous in taking vengeance, Ro 3:5. As there is a day of the Lord's patience, so there will be a day of his vengeance; for, though he bear long, he will not bear always. It is the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. Zion is the holy city, the city of our solemnities, a type and figure of the church of God in the world. Zion has a just quarrel with her neighbours for the wrongs they have done her, for all their treacherous and barbarous usage of her, profaning her holy things, laying waste her palaces, and slaying her sons. She has left it to God to plead her cause, and he will do so when the time, even the set time, to favour Zion shall have come; then he will recompense to her persecutors and oppressors all the mischiefs they have done her. The controversy will be decided, that Zion has been wronged, and therein Zion's God has been himself abused. Judgment will be given upon this decision, and execution done. Note, There is a time prefixed in the divine counsels for the deliverance of the church and the destruction of her enemies, a year of the redeemed, which will come, a year of recompences for the controversy of Zion; and we must patiently wait till then, and judge nothing before the time.
III. Here are the operations of the war, and the methods of it, settled, with an infallible assurance of success. 1. The sword of the Lord is bathed in heaven; this is all the preparation here made for the war, Isa 34:5. It may probably allude to some custom they had then of bathing their swords in some liquor or other, to harden them or brighten them; it is the same with the furbishing of it, that it may glitter, Eze 21:9-11. God's sword is bathed in heaven, in his counsel and decree, in his justice and power, and then there is not standing before it. 2. It shall come down. What he has determined shall without fail be put in execution. It shall come down from heaven, and the higher the place is, whence it comes, the heavier will it fall. It will come down upon Idumea, the people of God's curse, the people that lie under his curse and are by it doomed to destruction. Miserable, for ever miserable, are those that have by their sins made themselves the people of God's curse; for the sword of the Lord will infallibly attend the curse of the Lord and execute the sentences of it; and those whom he curses are cursed indeed. It shall come down to judgment, to execute judgment upon sinners. Note, God's sword of war is always a sword of justice. It is observed of him out of whose mouth goeth the sharp sword that in righteousness he doth judge and make war, Re 19:11,15. 3. The nations and their armies shall be given up to the sword (Isa 34:2): God has delivered them to the slaughter, and then they cannot deliver themselves, nor can all the friends they have deliver them from it. Those only are slain whom God delivers to the slaughter, for the keys of death are in his hand; and, in delivering them to the slaughter, he has utterly destroyed them; their destruction is as sure, when God has doomed them to it, as if they were destroyed already, utterly destroyed. God has, in effect, delivered all the cruel enemies of his church to the slaughter by that word (Re 13:10), He that kills with the sword must be killed by the sword, for the Lord is righteous. 4. Pursuant to the sentence, a terrible slaughter shall be made among them (Isa 34:6): The sword of the Lord, when it comes down with commission, does vast execution; it is filled, satiated, surfeited, with blood, the blood of the slain, and made fat with their fatness. When the day of God's abused mercy and patience is over the sword of his justice gives no quarter, spares none. Men have by sin lost the honour of the human nature and made themselves like the beasts that perish; they are therefore justly denied the compassion and respect that are owing to the human nature and killed as beasts, and no more is made of slaying an army of men than of butchering a flock of lambs or goats and feeding on the fat of the kidneys of rams. Nay, the sword of the Lord shall not only dispatch the lambs and goats, the infantry of their armies, the poor common soldiers, but (Isa 34:7) the unicorns too shall be made to come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls, though they are ever so proud, and strong, and fierce (the great men, and the mighty men, and the chief captains Re 6:15), the sword of the Lord will make as easy a prey of as of the lambs and the goats. The greatest of men are nothing before the wrath of the great God. See what bloody work will be made: The land shall be soaked with blood, as with the rain that comes often upon it and in great abundance; and their dust, their dry and barren land, shall be made fat with the fatness of men slain in their full strength, as with manure. Nay even the mountains, which are hard and rocky, shall be melted with their blood, Isa 34:3. These expressions are hyperbolical (as St. John's vision of blood to the horse-bridles, Re 14:20), and are made use of because they sound very dreadful to sense (it makes us even shiver to think of such abundance of human gore), and are therefore proper to express the terror of God's wrath, which is dreadful beyond conception and expression. See what work sin and wrath make even in this world, and think how much more terrible the wrath to come is, which will bring down the unicorns themselves to the bars of the pit. 5. This great slaughter will be a great sacrifice to the justice of God (Isa 34:6): The Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah; there it is that the great Redeemer has his garments dyed with blood, Isa 63:1. Sacrifices were intended for the honour of God, to make it appear that he hates sin and demands satisfaction for it, and that nothing but blood will make atonement; and for these ends the slaughter is made, that in it the wrath of God may be revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, especially their ungodly unrighteous enmity to his people, which was the sin that the Edomites were notoriously guilty of. In great sacrifices abundance of beasts were killed, hecatombs offered, and their blood poured out before the altar; and so will it be in this day of the Lord's vengeance. And thus would the whole earth have been soaked with the blood of sinners if Jesus Christ, the great propitiation, had not shed his blood for us; but those who reject him, and will not make a covenant with God by that sacrifice, will themselves fall as victims to divine wrath. Damned sinners are everlasting sacrifices, Mk 9:48,49. Those that sacrifice not (which is the character of the ungodly, Ec 9:2) must be sacrificed. 6. These slain shall be detestable to mankind, and shall be as much their loathing as ever they were their terror (Isa 34:3): They shall be cast out, and none shall pay them the respect of a decent burial; but their stink shall come up out of their carcases, that all people by the odious smell, as well as by the ghastly sight, may be made to conceive an indignation against sin and a dread of the wrath of God. They lie unburied, that they may remain monuments of divine justice. 7. The effect and consequence of this slaughter shall be universal confusion and desolation, as if the whole frame of nature were dissolved and melted down (Isa 34:4): All the host of heaven shall pine and waste away (so the word is); the sun shall be darkened, and the moon look black, or be turned into blood; the heavens themselves shall be rolled together as a scroll or parchment when we have done with it, and lay it by, or as when it is shrivelled up by the heat of the fire. The stars shall fall as the leaves in autumn; all the beauty, joy, and comfort, of the vanquished nation shall be lost and done away, magistracy and government shall be abolished, and all dominion and rule, but that of the sword of war, shall fall. Conquerors, in those times, affected to lay waste the countries they conquered; and such a complete desolation is here described by such figurative expressions as will yet have a literal and full accomplishment in the dissolution of all things at the end of time, of which last day of judgment the judgments which God does now sometimes remarkably execute on sinful nations are figures, earnests, and forerunners; and by these we should be awakened to think of that, for which reason these expressions are used here and Re 6:12,13. But they are used without a metaphor, 2Pe 3:10, where we are told that the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the earth shall be burnt up.
9-17
Threatenings against God's Enemies (720 BC)
简体中文
对神仇敌的威吓（主前720年）
⁹ 以东的河水要变为石油，尘埃要变为硫磺，地土成为烧着的石油。
¹⁰ 昼夜总不熄灭，烟气常常上腾，世世代代成为荒废，永永远远无人经过。
¹¹ 鹈鹕、箭猪却要得为业；猫头鹰、乌鸦也住在其间。耶和华必将空虚的准绳、混沌的线铊拉在其上。
¹² 以东人要召贵胄来治国，那里却无一个，首领也都归于无有。
¹³ 以东的宫殿要长荆棘，保障要长蒺藜和野草，又要作野狗的住处、鸵鸟的居所。
¹⁴ 旷野的走兽要和豺狼相遇；野羊要与伴偶对叫；夜间的怪物必在那里安歇，自找安歇之处。
¹⁵ 箭蛇要在那里作窝、下蛋、抱蛋，聚子在其影之下；鹞鹰各与伴偶聚集在那里。
¹⁶ 你们要查考宣读耶和华的书。这都无一缺少，无一没有伴偶；因为我的口已经吩咐，他的灵将它们聚集。
¹⁷ 他也为它们拈阄，又亲手用准绳给它们分地；它们必永得为业，世世代代住在其间。
这一段预言看来十分阴暗，但它显然不只是指向以东和波斯拉。1. 它描述了神的护理常常在国家、城邑、宫殿与家族中所作的令人忧愁的变迁。曾经繁荣、人来人往之地，竟会诡异地衰败下去。许多在历史上赫赫有名的大城邑，我们已不知该往何处去寻找其旧址。肥沃的国家久而久之变为荒凉，繁华拥挤的城邑变成残破的废墟。古老破败的城堡看着令人心惊，其废墟几乎和当年驻军一样令人惧怕。2. 它描述了那毁灭性的审判，这是神忿怒的果效，也是那些与神百姓为敌之人当受的刑罚；当「救赎之民之年」、为「锡安争辩的报应之年」来到时，神必降下这刑（赛34:8）。那些企图毁掉教会的人，绝不能达到目的，却必定毁掉自己。3. 它描述了这邪恶世界的最终荒凉，这世界「被留存在火中，等候审判的日子」（彼后3:7）。当地和其上一切的工程都要被烧毁的时候，地本身（据我所知）必对一切把感情放在属地事物上的人变为地狱。无论如何，这段预言向我们显明了「受咒诅之族类」的下场（耶24:9，和合本作「在天下万国中抛来抛去」）。
一、 那地要变成像所多玛的湖一样（赛34:9,10）。那「河水」——既滋润那地，又使居民愉悦舒畅的水——如今「要变为石油」，要凝结，看起来发黑，缓缓流动，或竟不流动。「他们的江河要变为缓慢的石油流」；布莱克摩尔爵士（Sir R. Blackmore）如此说。「其中的尘埃要变为硫磺」；罪已使他们的地如此易燃，以致神的忿怒一击发火花，它便着起来；既着起来，就要成为烧着的石油；火势要遍及全境，不是一间房屋或一座城邑失火，而是整个国家；任何人都没有能力去压制或扑灭它。火要持续燃烧，永远燃烧，「昼夜总不熄灭」。在地狱里的人，或那些在自己良心中带着地狱之苦的人，所受的折磨是不间断的；「这火的烟气要永远上腾」（启14:11）。只要地上还有惹动神怒的罪人，「一代又一代」罪人增多，使「耶和华的烈怒」更加发作（民32:14），天上就必有一位公义的神来刑罚他们。只要一个民族不断延续罪人的谱系，神就必为他们预备接连不断的灾祸；凡落在神忿怒之下的人，绝不能自拔。人无论对此轻忽到何等地步，终必发现，「落在永生神的手里，真是可怕的」（来10:31）。那地既注定被毁，便无人经过；旅客宁愿绕道走很远的路，也不肯闻那地的气味。
二、 那些城邑要变得像破败的旧屋，因房主弃置而显得阴森可怖，通常成了猛兽或凶鸟的栖身之处。请看仇敌的宫殿看着何等凄凉；这里的描写格外典雅精妙。1. 神要为它们标上毁灭之记号。他「必将以东（波斯拉）用空虚的准绳、用混沌的线铊拉在其上」（赛34:11）。这表明所下的判决十分公正，是按公义法则而判，执行与判决完全相符；毁灭并非胡乱施行，而是按准绳、按水准线量度出来的。那要笼罩全地的混乱与空虚，如同全地本来「空虚混沌」（此处所用正是希伯来文 tohu 与 bohu 二字，即「无定形与空虚」）——「地是空虚混沌」（创1:2）。罪很快就把乐园变为混沌，玷污整个受造界的华美。哪里有混乱，那里很快就有空虚；但二者都由世界的治理者所命定，且分量精确无误。2. 他们的大人物要全被剪除，无一人敢露面（赛34:12）：「他们要召王国的贵胄」来料理摆在前面的艰难政务，却无一人愿意承担这场灾难，她的首领一旦听到凶信，「都归于无有」，惊惶失措，对他们毫无帮助，不能护庇他们脱离毁灭。
三、 连那些政务厅堂和坚固之所，也要变为荒野（赛34:13）；不仅草要长起来，连「荆棘要长在以东的宫殿里，蒺藜和野草长在它的保障中」，却无人去割除或践踏。我们有时看见倾塌的建筑物上这样长满瓦砾杂莠。这表明那曾经盛满朝臣之地，不仅要变为无人居住、无人经过，而且要落在神的咒诅之下；因为荆棘和蒺藜正是咒诅所结的产物（创3:18）。
四、 它们要成为可怖的猛兽与凶鸟的居所和汇聚之处；这些禽兽通常出没于这种凄凉之地，因那里无人搅扰，它们既被赶到那里，又助长了对人的威吓。这一毁灭的细节，因易于在人心中造成惊悚，故在此处大大铺陈（赛34:11）。「鹈鹕要得为业」（或作鸬鹚），这种鸟喜独处（诗102:6）；「箭猪」发出骇人的叫声，「猫头鹰」是忧郁的鸟，「乌鸦」是嗜肉的猛禽，被尸首引来，要住在其间（带着空中一切不祥的怪物——布莱克摩尔爵士 Sir R. B. 语）；这一切不洁的鸟都于人无益（赛34:13）。「它要作野狗的住处」，野狗有毒且有害。
那曾作君王法庭之地，如今要作猫头鹰或鸵鸟的法庭（赛34:14）。「旷野的走兽」，那干旱多沙之地的兽，要与「海岛的走兽」，那潮湿沼泽之地的兽，仿佛按约定相会，并在这般彻底的荒凉中大快其心。
「夜间的怪物要呼唤同伴」与它同往这荒野，或既在其中，便乐得觅得如此合意的居所。「猫头鹰」（或作夜枭）必在那里安歇，这是一种夜鸟，也是不祥之鸟。「箭蛇要在那里作窝」（赛34:15）「下蛋、抱蛋」；它们要延续种类，好为这荒凉之地预备后嗣。「鹞鹰」那些以尸体为宴的鸟，要聚集在那里，各与伴偶同在。今当注意：1. 那些人既已弃置、远远避开的所在，恰是其他动物合适的栖息之处，而神的护理顾念它们，并不忽略。2. 那些性情乖僻、孤僻、不可与之人相交、偏爱忧郁独居的人，正像这些以荒凉为乐的孤独活物。3. 罪所带来的改变何等凄惨；它使肥沃之地变为荒凉，使繁华之城变为荒野。
五、 此处对这预言必将全然应验、甚至细枝末节也不落空，作出了确据（赛34:16,17）：「你们要查考宣读耶和华的书。当这毁灭临到，要把事情与预言对照，就必看见彼此恰好相符。」当注意，先知之书就是耶和华的书，我们当查考它、与它交谈，视其为出于神圣的来源、带有神圣的权柄。我们不仅应当读它，还要从中查看、考究、先翻这一处再翻那一处、彼此对照。借着勤勉的查考，能从圣经中提取大量有用的知识，这是浮光掠影的阅读所不能得的。当你从耶和华的书上读出预言之后，请观察：1. 你怎样读，便怎样看见；「这些都无一缺少」，无论是飞禽还是走兽；既已预言它们要「世世代代」得那地为业，那么为使种类得以繁衍，「无一没有伴偶」；这些荒凉的标记必要繁衍增多、遍满那地。2. 神的口既已吩咐这场可怖的召集，「他的灵必将它们聚集」，正如受造物受本能驱使聚集到亚当面前受命名、聚集到挪亚面前入方舟一般。神的话所命定的，神的灵必成就并带其实现，因为神的话绝不落空。神应许的话，也必照样借着圣灵的运行而成就。3. 在这威吓的应验中，有精确的次序与比例：「他为它们拈阄」，使每只鸟兽都晓得自己的所在，如同用地界量定了一般。参看约珥书2:7,8同样的描述：「他们并不践踏所行的道，彼此并不拥挤。」外邦的占卜者凭飞鸟的动向预卜事件，仿佛人的命运系于鸟。但此处我们看见，飞鸟的动向乃受以色列之神的支配：「他为它们拈阄」。4. 那荒凉必是永远的：「它们必永得为业」。神的耶路撒冷可能被夷为废墟；然而古时的耶路撒冷却从废墟中复兴，直到让位给福音的耶路撒冷，后者虽或被压低，却必重建，并要存留，直到让位给天上的耶路撒冷。但教会的仇敌必永远荒凉，必受永远的毁灭而受刑（帖后1:9）。
英語原文
Threatenings against God's Enemies (720 BC)
⁹ And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
¹⁰ It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
¹¹ But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
¹² They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
¹³ And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
¹⁴ The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
¹⁵ There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
¹⁶ Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
¹⁷ And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
This prophecy looks very black, but surely it looks so further than upon Edom and Bozrah. 1. It describes the melancholy changes that are often made by the divine Providence, in countries, cities, palaces, and families. Places that have flourished and been much frequented strangely go to decay. We know not where to find the places where many great towns, celebrated in history, once stood. Fruitful countries, in process of time, are turned into barrenness, and pompous populous cities into ruinous heaps. Old decayed castles look frightful, and their ruins are almost as much dreaded as ever their garrisons were. 2. It describes the destroying judgments which are the effects of God's wrath and the just punishment of those that are enemies to his people, which God will inflict when the year of the redeemed has come, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. Those that aim to ruin the church can never do that, but will infallibly ruin themselves. 3. It describes the final desolation of this wicked world, which is reserved unto fire at the day of judgment, 2Pe 3:7. The earth itself, when it, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up, will (for aught I know) be turned into a hell to all those that set their affections on earthly things. However, this prophecy shows us what will be the lot of the generation of God's curse.
I. The country shall become like the lake of Sodom, Isa 34:9,10. The streams thereof, that both watered the land and pleased and refreshed the inhabitants, shall now be turned into pitch, shall be congealed, shall look black, and shall move slowly, or not at all. Their floods to lazy streams of pitch shall turn; so Sir R. Blackmore. The dust thereof shall be turned into brimstone; so combustible has sin made their land that it shall take fire at the first spark of God's wrath struck upon it; and, when it has taken fire, it shall become burning pitch; the fire shall be universal, not a house, or town, on fire, but a whole country; and it shall not be in the power of any to suppress or extinguish it. It shall burn continually, burn perpetually, and shall not be quenched night nor day. The torment of those in hell, or that have a hell within them in their own consciences, is without interruption; the smoke of this fire goes up for ever. As long as there are provoking sinners on earth, from one generation to another, an increase of sinful men, to augment the fierce anger of the Lord (Nu 32:14), there will be a righteous God in heaven to punish them for it. And as long as a people keep up a succession of sinners God will have a succession of plagues for them; nor will any that fall under the wrath of God be ever able to recover themselves. It will be found, how light soever men make of it, that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. If the land be doomed to destruction, none shall pass through it, but travellers will choose rather to go a great way about than come within the smell of it.
II. The cities shall become like old decayed houses, which, being deserted by the owners, look very frightful, being commonly possessed by beasts of prey or birds of ill omen. See how dismally the palaces of the enemy look; the description is peculiarly elegant and fine. 1. God shall mark them for ruin and destruction. He shall stretch out upon Bozrah the line of confusion with the stones or plummets of emptiness, Isa 34:11. This intimates the equity of the sentence passed upon it; it is given according to the rules of justice and the exact agreeableness of the execution with the sentence; the destruction is not wrought at random, but by line and level. The confusion and emptiness that shall overspread the face of the whole country shall be like that of the whole earth when it was Tohu and Bohu (the very words here used)—without form and void. Ge 1:2. Sin will soon turn a paradise into a chaos, and sully the beauty of the whole creation. When there is confusion there will soon be emptiness; but both are appointed by the governor of the world, and in exact proportions. 2. Their great men shall be all cut off, and none of them shall dare to appear (Isa 34:12): They shall call the nobles of the kingdom to take care of the arduous affairs which lie before them, but none shall be there to take this ruin under their hand, and all her princes, having the sad tidings brought them, shall be nothing, shall be at their wits' end, and not be able to stand them in stead, to shelter them from destruction.
III. Even the houses of state, and those of strength, shall become as wildernesses (Isa 34:13); not only grass shall grow, but thorns shall come up, in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof, and there shall be none to cut them up or tread them down. We sometimes see ruined buildings thus overgrown with rubbish. It intimates that the place shall not only be uninhabited and unfrequented where a full court used to be kept, but that it shall be under the curse of God; for thorns and thistles were the production of the curse, Ge 3:18.
IV. They shall become the residence and rendezvous of fearful frightful beasts and birds, which usually frequent such melancholy places, because there they may be undisturbed, and, when they are frightened thither, they help to frighten men thence. This circumstance of the desolation, being apt to strike a horror upon the mind, is much enlarged upon here, Isa 34:11. The cormorant shall possess it, or the pelican, which affects to be solitary (Ps 102:6); and the bittern, which makes a hideous noise, the owl, a melancholy bird, the raven, a bird of prey, invited by the dead carcases, shall dwell there (with all the ill-boding monsters of the air, Sir R. B.), all the unclean birds, which were not for the service of man, Isa 34:13. It shall be a habitation for dragons, which are poisonous and hurtful.
That which was a court for princes shall now be a court for owls or ostriches, Isa 34:14. The wild beasts of the desert, the dry and sandy country, shall meet, as it were by appointment, with the wild beasts of the island, the wet marshy country, and shall regale themselves with such a perfect desolation as they shall find there.
The satyr shall cry to his fellow to go with him to this desert place, or, being there, they shall please themselves that they have found such an agreeable habitation. There shall the screech-owl rest, a night-bird and an ominous one. The great owl shall there make her nest (Isa 34:15) and lay and hatch; the breed of them shall be kept up to provide heirs for this desolate place. The vultures which feast on carcases, shall be gathered there, every one with his mate. Now observe, 1. How the places which men have deserted, and keep at a distance from, are proper receptacles for other animals, which the providence of God takes care of, and will not neglect. 2. Whom those resemble that are morose, unsociable, and unconversable, and affect a melancholy retirement; they are like these solitary creatures that take delight in desolations. 3. What a dismal change sin makes; it turns a fruitful land into barrenness, a frequented city into a wilderness.
V. Here is an assurance given of the full accomplishment of this prediction, even to the most minute circumstance of it (Isa 34:16,17): "Seek you out of the book of the Lord and read. When this destruction comes compare the event with the prediction, and you will find it to answer exactly." Note, The book of the prophets is the book of the Lord, and we ought to consult it and converse with it as of divine origin and authority. We must not only read it, but see out of it, search into it, turn first to one text and then to another and compare them together. Abundance of useful knowledge might thus be extracted, by a diligent search, out of the scriptures, which cannot be got by a superficial reading of them. When you have read the prediction out of the book of the Lord then observe, 1. That according to what you have read so you see; not one of these shall fail, either beast or fowl: and, it being foretold that they shall possess it from generation to generation, in order to that, that the species may be propagated, none shall want her mate; these marks of desolation shall be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the land. 2. That God's mouth having commanded this direful muster his Spirit shall gather them, as the creatures by instinct were gathered to Adam to be named and to Noah to be housed. What God's word has appointed his Spirit will effect and bring about, for no word of God shall fall to the ground. The word of God's promise shall in like manner be accomplished by the operations of the Spirit. 3. That there is an exact order and proportion observed in the accomplishment of this threatening: He has cast the lot for these birds and beasts, so that each one shall know his place as readily as if it were marked by line. See the like, Joe 2:7,8, They shall not break their ranks, neither shall one thrust another. The soothsayers among the heathen foretold events by the flight of birds, as if the fate of men depended on them. But here we find that the flight of birds is under the direction of the God of Israel: he has cast the lot for them. 4. That the desolation shall be perpetual: They shall possess it for ever. God's Jerusalem may be laid in ruins; but Jerusalem of old recovered itself out of its ruins, till it gave place to the gospel Jerusalem, which may be brought low, but shall be rebuilt, and shall continue till it give place to the heavenly Jerusalem. But the enemies of the church shall be for ever desolate, shall be punished with an everlasting destruction.
在这一章里，我们看见了神向一切与他的教会和百姓为敌之列国所宣告的致命判罚；这里只提到以东，乃是因为以扫对雅各那古老的仇恨具有预表性质，正如该隐对亚伯那更古老的仇恨一样，且都源自那蛇对女人后裔最初的仇恨。这预言很可能首先在亚述大军、或更可能在此后不久尼布甲尼撒大军，对那些与以色列相邻并曾以这样那样方式损害过他们的列国所造成的大荒废中得着了应验。那位大征服者以杀戮流血、荒废列国为荣，而在这一切中——远超他自己的设计——他乃是在成就神在此向他自己和他百姓的仇敌所宣告的威胁。但我们有理由认为，这乃是神向一切敌挡他在世人中之国度利益者所发的忿怒的宣告；它在列国的战争及其他毁灭性的审判所造成的浩劫中屡屡应验，并将在审判的日子、不敬虔之人灭亡的时候，万事最终瓦解之中完全应验。本章内容如下：一、要求普世都来留意（赛34:1）。二、呈现出一幅血腥与混乱的可畏景象（赛34:2-7）。三、说明这些审判的缘由（赛34:8）。四、这荒废将延续不断，那地变得如同所多玛的湖一般（赛34:9,10），那些城邑也被交给了野兽与愁苦的飞禽（赛34:11-15）。五、对这一切的庄严印证（赛34:16,17）。愿我们听见，就惧怕。