¶ Come¹ near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the² earth hear, and all that is therein³; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

For the indignation⁴ of the LORD is upon all nations, and his⁵ fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

Their slain⁶ also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains⁷ shall be melted with their blood.

And all the⁸ 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.

For my sword⁹ shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea¹⁰, and upon the people¹¹ of my curse, to judgment.

The sword of the LORD is filled¹² 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 hath¹⁴ a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

And the unicorns¹⁵ shall come down with them, and the bullocks¹⁶ with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked¹⁷ with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

¹⁸For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

¶¹⁹And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

¶ It shall not²⁰ be quenched night nor day; the smoke²¹ thereof shall go up for ever: from²² generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

But the cormorant²³ and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch²⁴ out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

They shall call²⁵ the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing²⁶.

And thorns²⁷ shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation²⁸ of dragons, and a court for owls²⁹.

The wild beasts of the desert³⁰ shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island³¹, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl³² also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

There shall the great owl make her nest³³, and lay³⁴, and hatch³⁵, and gather under³⁶ her shadow: there shall the vultures³⁷ also be gathered, every one with her mate.

Seek³⁸ ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth³⁹ it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

And he hath cast⁴⁰ the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall⁴¹ possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.