Chiastic Structures
The Old Testament
Chiastic Parallels
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A

9 Edom’s streams shall turn into lava
and her earth into brimstone; her land shall become as burning pitch. 10 Night and day it shall not be quenched;
its smoke shall ascend forever. It shall remain a wasteland
from generation to generation; through endless ages none shall traverse it.

B

11 But hawks and falcons shall possess it,
and owls and ravens inhabit it. It shall be surveyed with muddled measure
and chaotic weight.

C

12 Shall they summon its nobles when it is no kingdom,
when all its lords no longer exist? 13 For thorns shall overgrow its palaces,
thistles and briars its strongholds;

B'

it shall become the haunt of howling creatures,
a reserve for birds of prey. 14 Prairie wolves shall greet jackals,
and wild goats call to one another. There too shall the night owl find repose
and discover for herself a resting place. 15 There shall the hawk owl nest and lay eggs,
hatch them and brood over her young. There too shall kites come together,
each one accompanying her mate.

A'

16 Search, and read it in the book of Jehovah:
None is unaccounted for, not one lacks her mate. By his mouth he decreed it,
by his Spirit he brings them together. 17 It is he who allots them an inheritance,
his hand that divides it by measure. They shall possess it forever,
inhabit it from generation to generation.