Isaiah 24

1 Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—

Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof.

2 people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.

And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as with the servant, so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him that oweth.

3 The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered.

With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.

4 The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.

The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened.

5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.

And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.

Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left.

7 The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan.

The vintage hath mourned, the vine hath languished away, all the merryhearted have sighed.

8 The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent.

The mirth of timbrels hath ceased, the noise of them that rejoice is ended, the melody of the harp is silent.

9 They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.

They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

10 The city of chaos is shattered; every house is closed to entry.

The city of vanity is broken down, every house is shut up, no man cometh in.

11 In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.

There shall be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is forsaken: the joy of the earth is gone away.

12 The city is left in ruins; its gate is reduced to rubble.

Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the gates.

13 So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.

For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the olive tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended.

14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they proclaim the majesty of the LORD.

These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise: when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea.

15 Therefore glorify the LORD in the east. Extol the name of the LORD, the God of Israel in the islands of the sea.

Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea.

16 From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal in treachery.

From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself, woe is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication of transgressors they have prevaricated.

17 Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.

Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O thou inhabitant of the earth.

18 Whoever flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.

And it shall come to pass, that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: and he that shall rid himself out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.

19 The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently.

With breaking shall the earth be broken, with crushing shall the earth be crushed, with trembling shall the earth be moved.

20 The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.

With shaking shall the earth be shaken as a drunken man, and shall be removed as the tent of one night: and the iniquity thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fell, and not rise again.

21 In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and the kings of the earth below.

And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord shall visit upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth, on the earth.

22 They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon and punished after many days.

And they shall be gathered together as in the gathering of one bundle into the pit, and they shall be shut up there in prison: and after many days they shall be visited.

23 The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.

And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the sight of his ancients.