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12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom,
and all her officials will disappear.[a]
13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;
thickets and weeds will grow[b] in her fortified cities.
Jackals will settle there;
ostriches will live there.[c]
14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there;[d]
wild goats will bleat to one another.[e]
Yes, nocturnal animals[f] will rest there
and make for themselves a nest.[g]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 34:12 tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”
  2. Isaiah 34:13 tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  3. Isaiah 34:13 tc Heb “and she will be a settlement for wild dogs, a dwelling place for ostriches.” The translation assumes an emendation of חָצִיר (khatsir, “grass”) to חָצֵר (khatser, “settlement”). One of the Qumran scrolls of Isaiah (1QIsaa) supports this emendation (cf. HALOT 344 s.v. II חָצִיר)
  4. Isaiah 34:14 tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”
  5. Isaiah 34:14 tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”
  6. Isaiah 34:14 tn The precise meaning of לִילִית (lilit) is unclear, though in this context the word certainly refers to some type of wild animal or bird. The word appears to be related to לַיְלָה (laylah, “night”). Some interpret it as the name of a female night demon, on the basis of an apparent Akkadian cognate used as the name of a demon. Later Jewish legends also identified Lilith as a demon. Cf. NRSV “Lilith.”
  7. Isaiah 34:14 tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”

12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
    all her princes(A) will vanish(B) away.
13 Thorns(C) will overrun her citadels,
    nettles and brambles her strongholds.(D)
She will become a haunt for jackals,(E)
    a home for owls.(F)
14 Desert creatures(G) will meet with hyenas,(H)
    and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures(I) will also lie down
    and find for themselves places of rest.

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