8  ^gFor the Lord has a day of vengeance,

a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

9  ^hAnd the streams of Edom¹ shall be turned into pitch,

and her soil into sulfur;

her land shall become burning pitch.

10  Night and day ⁱit shall not be quenched;

^jits smoke shall go up forever.

^kFrom generation to generation it shall lie waste;

none shall pass through it forever and ever.

11  ^lBut the hawk and the porcupine² shall possess it,

the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.

^mHe shall stretch the line of ⁿconfusion³ over it,

and the plumb line of emptiness.

12  Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,

and all its princes shall be nothing.

13  ^oThorns shall grow over its strongholds,

nettles and thistles in its fortresses.

It shall be the haunt of ^pjackals,

an abode for ostriches.⁴

14  ^qAnd wild animals shall meet with hyenas;

the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;

indeed, there the night bird⁵ settles

and finds for herself a resting place.

15  There the owl nests and lays

and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;

indeed, there ^rthe hawks are gathered,

each one with her mate.

16  Seek and read from the book of the Lord:

Not one of these shall be missing;

none shall be without her mate.

For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,

and his Spirit has gathered them.

17  ^sHe has cast the lot for them;

his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;

they shall possess it forever;

from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.