9Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,

her dust into burning sulfur;

her land will become blazing pitch!

10It will not be quenched night and day;

its smoke will rise forever.

From generation to generation it will lie desolate;

no one will ever pass through it again.

11The desert owl^b and screech owl^c will possess it;

the great owl^d and the raven will nest there.

God will stretch out over Edom

the measuring line of chaos

and the plumb line of desolation.

12Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,

all her princes will vanish away.

13Thorns will overrun her citadels,

nettles and brambles her strongholds.

She will become a haunt for jackals,

a home for owls.

14Desert creatures will meet with hyenas,

and wild goats will bleat to each other;

there the night creatures will also repose

and find for themselves places of rest.

15The owl will nest there and lay eggs,

she will hatch them, and care for her young under the shadow of her wings;

there also the falcons will gather,

each with its mate.

16Look in the scroll of the Lord and read:

None of these will be missing,

not one will lack her mate.

For it is his mouth that has given the order,

and his Spirit will gather them together.

17He allots their portions;

his hand distributes them by measure.

They will possess it forever

and dwell there from generation to generation.