The streams of Edom will be filled with burning pitch, and the ground will be covered with fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch.
- KJV And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
- BSB Edom’s streams will be turned to tar, and her soil to sulfur; her land will become a blazing pitch.
- NKJV Its streams shall be turned into pitch, And its dust into brimstone; Its land shall become burning pitch.
- NASB Its streams will be turned into pitch, And its loose earth into brimstone, And its land will become burning pitch.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Edom's land becomes burning pitch and sulfur, an image of permanent desolation.
Overview
The streams and soil turning to pitch and sulfur recall the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, marking Edom for lasting ruin. The imagery conveys the thoroughness of God's judgment on a proud and hostile nation. It serves as a warning of the enduring consequences of opposing God and underscores the seriousness of his holiness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Deut 29:23and that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath;
- Ps 11:6On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
- Gen 19:28He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
- Luke 17:29but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky, and destroyed them all.
- Job 18:15There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his. Sulfur shall be scattered on his habitation.
- Rev 19:20The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- Jude 1:7Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
- Rev 21:8But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 34:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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