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英文原文
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.
1-8
Threatenings against God's Enemies (720 BC)
對神仇敵的威脅 (720 BC)
¹ 列國啊，近前來聽；萬民啊，側耳而聽：地和其中所充滿的，世界和其中所出產的，都當聽。
² 因為耶和華向萬國發怒，向他們的萬軍發烈怒，將他們滅盡，交給他們屠殺。
³ 被殺的必然拋出，他們屍體的臭氣上騰，諸山被他們的血融化。
⁴ 天上的萬象都要消沒，天如書卷被捲起；其上的萬象要如葡萄樹的葉子凋落，又如無花果樹上凋落的無花果。
⁵ 因為我的刀在天上已經喝足；看哪，這刀必降在以東，和我所咒詛的百姓身上，施行審判。
⁶ 耶和華的刀滿了血，用脂油和肥油肥潤，用羊羔公山羊的血和公綿羊腰子的脂油；因為耶和華在波斯拉有獻祭，在以東地有大殺戮。
⁷ 野牛與他們一同倒下，公牛和壯牛也一同倒下；他們的地必被血浸透，他們的塵土必因脂油肥潤。
⁸ 因為這是耶和華報仇之日，為錫安的爭辯而有報應之年。
我們在此看到一個預言——正如我們在別處看到歷史記載——關於耶和華的戰爭；我們確知這些戰爭既是公義的，也是成功的。這世界既是他的受造之物，他就向它行善；但它既在撒但——被稱為這世界的神——的利益之中，他便與它爭戰。
I. 此處吹響號筒，宣佈了戰爭（賽34:1）。萬國都必須來聽、側耳而聽，不僅因為神即將要做的事極其值得他們留意（如賽33:13），更因為他們都與之有關；神所要理論的正是與他們；神所要發怒出去反對的正是他們。讓他們都留意：大能的神向他們發怒；他的惱怒在萬國之上，因此讓萬國近前來聽。號筒在城中吹響（摩3:6），城牆上的守望者呼喊：當聽角聲（耶6:17）。地和其中所充滿的都當聽，因為全地都屬耶和華（詩24:1），理當聽從造它、它的主人。世界必須聽，其中所出產的一切也必須聽——屬地的人，出於地、也必歸於地的人；或說那地中無生命的出產也被呼喚，因為它們比心硬不肯聽神呼召的罪人更可能側耳而聽。眾山哪，你們要聽耶和華的爭論（彌6:2）。這爭論如此公義，以致全世界都可以放心地被請來評斷其公正。
II. 此處發佈了宣戰書，陳明：
1. 他向誰宣戰（賽34:2）：耶和華的惱怒在萬國之上； 他們都結盟反對神和信仰，都在魔鬼的利益之中，因此他向他們眾人發怒，甚至向一切忘記他的萬國發怒。他長久任憑萬國各行其道（徒14:16），但如今他不再緘默。他們既都享受過他忍耐的益處，如今也必都感受到他的憤怒。他的烈怒特別在他們一切的軍隊之上，（一）因為他們藉此向神的百姓行了損害；那些對他們大行殺戮的人，因此必被賜血給他們喝。（二）因為他們藉此盼望在神的公義與大能面前站穩，他們以軍隊為保障，因此神的烈怒必首先臨到他們。軍隊在神的烈怒面前不過如焚燒之火前的乾草，無論其數目多麼眾多、勇氣多麼可嘉。
2. 他為誰而戰，戰爭的根據和理由是什麼（賽34:8）：這是耶和華報仇之日，他是那屬乎報仇的，在施行報應上絕不不義的那位（羅3:5）。正如有耶和華忍耐之日，也必有他報仇之日；因為他雖長久容忍，卻不永遠容忍。這是為錫安的爭辯而有報應之年。 錫安是聖城，是我們嚴肅會的城，是神在世上教會的預表和形象。錫安與她的鄰舍有正當的爭論，因他們對她所行的惡，因他們對她一切詭詐殘暴的對待——褻瀆她的聖物、荒廢她的宮殿、殺戮她的兒子。她將這事交給神來申訴，當時候——就是恩待錫安的定期——來到，他必向逼迫她、欺壓她的人追討他們對她所行的一切惡。爭論要被裁決：錫安受了冤屈，而其中錫安的神自己也受了凌辱。判決要根據這裁定作出，並要執行。請注意，在神聖的旨意中為教會的拯救和仇敵的毀滅預定了時候，就是救贖之年，它必來到，為錫安的爭辯而有報應之年；我們必須忍耐等候到那時，並在時候未到之前什麼都不要論斷。
III. 此處確立了戰爭的行動和方法，並有必定成功的確據。1. 耶和華的刀在天上已經喝足；這就是此處為戰爭所作的一切準備（賽34:5）。這或許是指他們當時將刀浸在某種液體中以增加硬度或光澤的習慣；這與磨亮它使之閃爍是一回事（結21:9-11）。神的刀在天上喝足——在他的旨意和定旨中，在他的公義和大能中——在他面前便無人能站立。2. 這刀必降下。 他所定的必無疑問地被執行。它要從天上降下，而降下的地方越高，落下的力量越重。它必降在以東，我所咒詛的百姓——那伏在他咒詛之下、被定為毀滅的百姓。那些因自己的罪使自己成為神所咒詛之百姓的人，實在悲慘、永遠悲慘；因為耶和華的刀必無疑地伴隨耶和華的咒詛，執行其中的判決；他所咒詛的，實在受咒詛了。它要降下施行審判，向罪人執行審判。請注意，神的戰爭之刀總是公義之刀。那口中出來一把利劍的那位被如此描述：他憑公義審判、爭戰（啟19:11,15）。3. 萬國與他們的軍隊必被交在刀劍之下（賽34:2）：神將他們交給屠殺，那時他們便不能自救，他們一切的朋友也不能救他們脫離。惟獨神所交給屠殺的才被殺，因為死亡的鑰匙在他手中；而在將他們交給屠殺之時，他已將他們滅盡；當神定了他們的罪，他們的毀滅便如已經被毀滅一般確定，全然滅盡。神實際上已藉那句話（啟13:10）用刀殺人的，必被刀殺，將一切殘酷對待他教會的仇敵交給了屠殺，因為主是公義的。4. 按照判決，在他們中間必有大屠殺（賽34:6）：耶和華的刀帶著權柄降下之時，便作了極大的殺戮；它滿了——飽足、飽膩——血，就是被殺之人的血，並因他們的脂油而肥潤。當神被濫用的憐憫與忍耐之日結束，他公義的刀便不留情面、不放過一人。人因罪失去了人性當有的尊嚴，使自己如同必死的獸；因此公義地被拒絕了那當歸給人性的同情與尊重，如獸一般被殺，而殲滅一支軍隊不過如宰殺一群羊羔或山羊、享用公綿羊腰子的脂油一般。不但如此，耶和華的刀不但要了結那些羊羔和山羊——軍隊中的步兵、可憐的普通士兵——而且（賽34:7）連野牛也必被使他們一同倒下，公牛和壯牛也一同倒下，無論它們多麼驕傲、強壯、凶猛（那些大人物、勇士和元帥，啟6:15），耶和華的刀也要如對待羊羔和山羊那樣輕易地獵取。最大的人在偉大之神的震怒面前什麼也不是。請看將有怎樣的殺戮：地必被血浸透，如同那常常降在其上、豐沛的雨水；他們的塵土——那乾旱貧瘠之地——必因脂油而肥潤——就是那在力量盛年之時被殺之人的脂油，如同施肥。不但如此，連諸山——堅硬多石之地——也因他們的血而融化（賽34:3）。這些表達是誇飾的（如約翰所見血到馬嚼口的異象，啟14:20），使用它們是因為聽起來令感官極其可怖（想到如此大量的人血便令人戰慄），因此正適合表達神震怒的恐怖——那震怒超乎想像和言語。請看罪與震怒即使在今世也作了何等可怕的事，並思想將來的震怒更加可怕——它必使野牛也被牽到坑口的欄杆那裡。5. 這大屠殺將是向神公義所獻的大祭（賽34:6）：耶和華在波斯拉有獻祭；在那裡，大救贖主的衣服染了血（賽63:1）。獻祭本為榮耀神，要表明他恨惡罪並要求為罪滿足，且非血不能贖罪；為這些目的，屠殺得以進行，使在其中神的震怒從天上顯明在一切不虔不義的人身上，尤其是他們對神百姓不虔不義的敵意——而以東人正是在此罪上臭名昭著。在大祭中，許多牲畜被宰殺，百牛之祭被獻上，它們的血在祭壇前傾倒；在耶和華報仇之日也必如此。若不是耶穌基督——那大挽回祭——為我們流了血，全地必如此被罪人之血浸透；但那些棄絕他、不肯藉那祭與神立約的人，自己必如祭牲一般落在神的震怒之下。被定罪的罪人是永遠的祭物（可9:48,49）。那些不獻祭的（這是惡人的特徵，傳9:2）必自己被獻為祭。6. 這些被殺之人必為人所憎惡，如他們素來為人所懼怕一樣為人所厭棄（賽34:3）：他們必被拋出，無人給予他們體面埋葬的尊重；但他們屍體的臭氣上騰，使萬民藉著那可憎的臭味和可怕的景象，產生對罪的義憤和對神震怒的畏懼。他們不得埋葬，好作為神公義的記念碑。7. 這屠殺的影響和結果將是普遍的混亂和荒涼，如同整個自然界的框架被消解融化一般（賽34:4）：天上的萬象都要枯萎消沒（原文如此）；日頭要變暗，月亮發黑，或變為血；天本身如書卷——當我們用完之後將它捲起收好，或被火熱烤得捲縮——被捲起。星宿要如秋天的葉子墜落；那被征服之國的一切榮美、喜樂和安慰都要喪失殆盡，政權要被廢除，除了戰爭之刀以外的統治與權柄都要傾倒。那時代的征服者樂於使他們所征服的國家荒涼；如此徹底的荒涼在此以比喻性的語言來描述，但它將在末了萬物消解之時得到字面而完全的應驗——神如今有時顯著地加在有罪國家身上的審判，正是那最後審判之日的影像、憑據和前奏；我們應當被這些所喚醒去思想那日子，正因如此，這些表達在此處和啟6:12,13被使用。但它們在彼後3:10被不加比喻地使用，那裡告訴我們天必大有響聲地廢去，地也要被燒盡。
英文原文
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)
對神仇敵的警告（主前720年）
⁹ 以東的河水要變為石油，塵埃要變為硫磺，地土要成為燒著的石油。
¹⁰ 晝夜總不熄滅，煙氣永遠上騰，世世代代成為荒廢，永無人經過。
¹¹ 鵜鶘和箭豬卻要得他為業；貓頭鷹和烏鴉也住在其中；耶和華必將空虛的準繩和混沌的石頭，拉在其上。
¹² 以東人要召貴胄治國，卻無人在那裏，它的首領也都歸於無有。
¹³ 以東的宮殿要長荊棘，保障要長蒺藜和刺草；要作野狗的住處，和鴕鳥的院宇。
¹⁴ 曠野的走獸要和島上的走獸相遇，山羊鬼要與同伴對唱；夜間的怪物必在那裏安息，為自己找著安歇之處。
¹⁵ 箭蛇要在那裏作窩、下蛋、孵化、聚子在蔭下；鷂鷹也必在那裏聚首，各與自己的配偶。
¹⁶ 你們要查考耶和華的書，宣讀：這些必無一缺少，各與配偶相對；因為是他口所命的，是他的靈將他們聚集。
¹⁷ 他也為他們拈鬮，親手用準繩分給他們；他們必永遠得地為業，世世代代住在其間。
這預言看來極為陰暗，但無疑它看得更遠，不止於以東和波斯拉。1. 它描述了神的護理常常在邦國、城邑、宮殿、家族中所作的憂傷變遷。那些曾繁盛、常被人羣聚集之地，竟奇異地趨於衰敗。歷史上許多著名的大城曾經所在之地，我們不知在何處尋找。豐饒的國家日久變為荒涼，堂皇人口稠密的城邑變為廢墟。古老破敗的城堡令人毛骨悚然，其廢墟幾乎與從前其中駐軍一樣令人懼怕。2. 它描述了神的烈怒所致的毀滅性審判，是那些與神百姓為敵之人當受的公義刑罰——當贖民之年來到、為錫安爭辯的報應之年來到時，神必施行。那些企圖毀滅教會的人決不能得逞，卻必無可避免地毀滅自己。3. 它描述了這邪惡世界的最終荒涼——留到審判之日用火焚燒（2Pe 3:7）。這地和其中一切的工作被燒毀之時，它本身（據我所知）將成為一切以地上的事為念之人的地獄。然而，這預言向我們顯明了受神咒詛之世代的結局。
I. 這地必變為如所多瑪的湖（Isa 34:9,10）。它的河水——既滋潤這地、又使居民歡暢甦醒的——如今要變為石油，要凝結、變黑、流動遲緩或全然不動。他們的洪流要變為懶洋洋的石油流（Sir R. Blackmore 語）。它的塵埃要變為硫磺；罪惡已使其地如此易燃，以致神烈怒的第一點火星一觸，它便着火；既已着火，便成為燒著的石油；這火必是普世的，不是一棟房屋或一個城着火，而是整個國家；任何人都不能遏制或撲滅它。它必不住地燃燒，永遠燃燒，*晝夜總不熄滅。*那些在地獄裏的人，或在自己良心裏有地獄的人，所受的折磨是毫無間斷的；這火的煙氣永遠上騰。只要地上還有惹動神的罪人，一代又一代地加增罪人，使耶和華的烈怒增長（Nu 32:14），天上便必有公義的神為此刑罰他們。一個民族只要持續不斷地有罪人，神便有連續不斷的災禍為他們預備；落在神烈怒之下的，也永不能自拔。無論人如何輕看，終必發現落在永生神的手裏真是可怕的。這地既註定毀滅，便無人經過，旅客寧可繞道遠行，也不願走近它嗅其氣味。
II. 這些城邑必變為如老舊破敗的房屋，既被主人撇棄，便顯得極為可怕——通常為猛獸或凶鳥所佔據。請看仇敵的宮殿何等淒涼；這描述尤為精緻優美。1. 神必標記它們為毀滅。他必將空虛的準繩拉在波斯拉上，將混沌的石頭（或鉛錘）拉在其上（Isa 34:11）。這表明所宣判之判決的公正；它是照著公義的規則而判，執行與判決完全相符；這毀滅不是隨意施行，而是按準繩和水平。那要遮滿全境的混亂和空虛，如同全地在Tohu 和 Bohu（此處所用的正是這兩個字）——空虛混沌——之時的光景（Ge 1:2）。罪不久便將樂園變為混亂，並玷污整個受造之美。混亂之處不久必有空虛；但兩者都由世界的統治者所定，分量精準。2. 他們的偉人都必被剪除，無人敢出面（Isa 34:12）：他們要召國中的貴胄來料理擺在前頭的艱難事務，卻無人在那裏承擔這毀壞，她一切的首領得了這噩耗，便都歸於無有，束手無策，不能保護他們免於毀滅。
III. 連那些宏偉的房屋和堅固的保障也必變為荒野（Isa 34:13）；不但草要長出，宮殿要長荊棘，保障要長蒺藜和刺草，無人砍伐或踐踏。我們有時看見廢墟如此被雜草叢生。這表明這地方不但不再有人居住、不再有人羣聚集——從前這裏曾保持盛大的朝儀——更在神的咒詛之下；因為荊棘和蒺藜是咒詛所出的（Ge 3:18）。
IV. 它們必成為可怕凶猛的走獸和飛鳥的住所和聚集地——這些通常出沒於如此陰森之地，因為在那裏可以不受攪擾，當它們被驚嚇到那裏時，又有助於把人嚇跑。這荒涼的這一情節，因容易在人心上造成恐怖，在此大加擴展（Isa 34:11）。鵜鶘要得它為業——或作鵜鶘，這鳥偏好獨居（Ps 102:6）；箭豬——發出可怖叫聲的鳥；貓頭鷹——憂鬱之鳥；烏鴉——為死屍所引來的猛禽——都要住在那裏（連同空中一切不祥的怪物，Sir R. B. 語）；一切不潔的鳥——那些不為人服役的——都要如此（Isa 34:13）。要作野狗的住處——這些是有毒有害的。
那曾作君王朝院的，如今要作鴟鴞或鴕鳥的院宇（Isa 34:14）。曠野的走獸——乾旱沙地上的——要與海島的走獸——潮濕沼澤地的——彷彿約定似地相遇，並因在那裏所找到的完全荒涼而自得其樂。
山羊鬼要與同伴對唱，叫同伴同往這荒漠之地，或既在其中，便因尋得如此合宜的居所而歡喜。在那裏必有夜間的怪物安息——夜出的凶鳥。箭蛇要在那裏作窩（Isa 34:15）、下蛋、孵化、聚子；這一族的繁衍必得以維持，為這荒涼之地預備後嗣。鷂鷹——以死屍為盛宴的——*也必在那裏聚首，各與自己的配偶。*如今請留意，1. 人所撇棄、敬而遠之之地，正是別的動物的合適歸宿——神的護理看顧這些，也不忽略。2. 那些性情乖僻、不合羣、不肯與人交接、偏愛憂鬱獨居的人，正像這些以荒涼為樂的孤獨活物。3. 罪帶來何等可怕的改變；它使豐饒之地變為荒涼，使人羣聚集的城邑變為曠野。
V. 這裏保證這預言必完全應驗，甚至最微小的情節也不例外（Isa 34:16,17）：你們要查考耶和華的書，宣讀。當這毀滅來到時，將事件與預言相比較，你必發現完全吻合。注意，先知的書就是耶和華的書，我們當以之為出於神、具有屬神權威而查考它、與之相交。我們不但要讀它，更要從其中尋索、探究，先翻到一處經文，再翻到另一處，加以比較。從聖經中，藉着殷勤的尋索，可以提取出豐盛的有用知識——這是膚淺的閱讀所不能得的。你們從耶和華的書中讀了預言之後，請留意，1. 照你所讀的，你便看見；這些必無一缺少——無論走獸或飛鳥；並且，既預言它們要世世代代得地為業，為此，使物種得以繁衍，各與配偶相對；這些荒涼的記號必結實繁多，遍滿那地。2. 神的口既已命定這可怕的點閱，他的靈必將他們聚集——如同受造之物憑本能被聚集到亞當面前受命名、到挪亞面前得棲身。神口所定的，他的靈必成就並帶來，因為神的話沒有一句落空。神應許的話也照樣要藉著聖靈的運行來成就。3. 在這威脅的成就中有精確的秩序和比例：他為這些飛鳥走獸拈鬮，使各樣都各知其位，如同用準繩劃定一般。見類似的 Joe 2:7,8：*他們不破隊伍，也不彼此擁擠。*外邦的占卜者憑飛鳥的飛行預言事件，彷彿人的命運繫於它們。但我們在此發現，飛鳥的飛行是在以色列神的指揮之下：*他為它們拈鬮。*4. 這荒涼必是永久的：*他們必永遠得地為業。*神的耶路撒冷或可被夷為平地；但古時的耶路撒冷從廢墟中恢復了，直到它讓位於福音的耶路撒冷——這後者或可被降卑，卻必被重建，並要存留直到讓位於天上的耶路撒冷。但教會的仇敵必永遠荒涼，必受永遠的毀滅刑罰。
英文原文
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.
在本章中我們有神對一切與他教會和百姓為敵之列國所定的致命結局，雖然此處只提到以東；這是因以掃對雅各舊有的仇恨原是預表性的，正如該隱對亞伯更古的仇恨一樣，並且是出於那蛇對女人後裔最初的仇恨。這預言可能先是應驗於亞述軍隊、後來更是應驗於尼布甲尼撒軍隊，在那些與以色列為鄰、並曾以某種方式損害他們的列國中所造成的大荒涼。那位大征服者以流人血、使列國荒涼為誇口，在其中——遠超過他自己的設計——他正應驗了神在此向他和他百姓的仇敵所威脅的話。但我們有理由認為，這段經文更是作為神對一切與他國度在人類中的利益爭戰之人的忿怒宣告；它在列國的戰爭與其他毀滅性審判所造成的浩劫中屢屢應驗，並將在審判之日與不敬虔之人滅亡之時、萬物最終解散之中完全應驗。此處有：一、 一個要求普世留心的呼召，賽 34:1。二、 一幅可怖的血與混亂的景象，賽 34:2-7。三、 這些審判的理由，賽 34:8。四、 這荒涼的持續——那地變得如所多瑪的鹹湖一般（賽 34:9,10），城邑被棄給野獸與淒涼的飛鳥，賽 34:11-15。五、 對這一切的莊嚴印證，賽 34:16,17。願我們聽見而懼怕。