Isaiah 24

1 See, the Lord is making the earth waste and unpeopled, he is turning it upside down, and sending the people in all directions.

Some day, Yahweh is going to destroy everything on the earth. He will devastate it and cause it to become a desert and scatter its people.

2 And it will be the same for the people as for the priest; for the servant as for his master; and for the woman-servant as for her owner; the same for the one offering goods for a price as for him who takes them; the same for him who gives money at interest and for him who takes it; the same for him who lets others have the use of his property as for those who make use of it.

He will scatter everyone— priests and common people, servants and their masters, maids and their mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, people who owe money and people who are owed money.

3 The earth will be completely waste and without men; for this is the word of the Lord.

Nothing that is worth anything will be left on earth; everything valuable will be destroyed. [That will surely happen because] Yahweh has said it.

4 The earth is sorrowing and wasting away, the world is full of grief and wasting away, the high ones of the earth come to nothing.

[Everything on] the earth will dry up and die [DOU]; its important people will become weak and unimportant.

5 The earth has been made unclean by those living in it; because the laws have not been kept by them, the orders have been changed, and the eternal agreement has been broken.

The earth has become unacceptable to Yahweh because the people who live on it have disobeyed his laws; they have rejected the agreement that he intended to last forever.

6 For this cause the earth is given up to the curse, and those in it are judged as sinners: for this cause those living on the earth are burned up, and the rest are small in number.

Therefore, [Yahweh] will curse the earth; the people who live on it must be punished because of the sins that they have committed. They will be destroyed by fire, and [only a] few people will remain [alive].

7 The new wine is thin, the vine is feeble, and all the glad-hearted make sounds of grief.

The grapevines will wither, and there will be no [grapes to make] wine. All [the people] who were previously happy will then groan and mourn.

8 The pleasing sound of all instruments of music has come to an end, and the voices of those who are glad.

People will no longer play cheerful songs with tambourines, people will no longer play joyfully on their harps, and people will no longer shout noisily [during their celebrations].

9 There is no more drinking of wine with a song; strong drink will be bitter to those who take it.

People will no longer sing while they drink wine, and [all] their alcoholic drinks will taste bitter.

10 The town is waste and broken down: every house is shut up, so that no man may come in.

[Towns and] cities will be desolate; every house will be locked to prevent thieves from entering.

11 There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; there is an end of all delight, the joy of the land is gone.

[Mobs] will gather in the streets, wanting wine; no one on the earth will be happy [DOU] any more.

12 In the town all is waste, and in the public place is destruction.

Cities will be ruined and [all] their gates will be battered/broken into pieces.

13 For it will be in the heart of the earth among the peoples, like the shaking of an olive-tree, as the last of the grapes after the getting-in is done.

It will be like that all over the earth: [there will only be a few people still alive], like what happens when [workers] beat all the olives off a tree [and there are only a few left], [or] when they harvest the grapes and there are only a few left [on the vines].

14 But those will be making sounds of joy; they will be crying loudly from the sea for the glory of the Lord.

But [those who are left alive] will sing joyfully; people [in nations] to the west [of Israel] will declare that Yahweh is very great;

15 Give praise to the Lord in the east, to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the sea-lands.

people in nations to the east [of Israel will also] praise Yahweh [MTY]; in countries across the sea, people will praise Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship].

16 From the farthest part of the earth comes the sound of songs, glory to the upright. But I said, I am wasting away, wasting away, the curse is on me! The false ones go on in their false way, yes, they go on acting falsely.

We will hear [people] in the most distant places on the earth singing praise to [Yahweh], the [truly] righteous one. But [now], I am [SYN] very sad. Weep for me, [because] I have become thin and weak. Terrible things are happening! Treacherous [people still] betray/deceive others everywhere [DOU].

17 Fear, and death, and the net, are come on you, O people of the earth.

You people all over the earth, you will be terrified, and you will fall into deep pits and traps/snares.

18 And it will be that he who goes in flight from the sound of fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for the windows on high are open, and the bases of the earth are shaking.

Those who [try to] flee because they are terrified will fall into [deep] pits, and those who climb out of the pits will be caught by traps/snares. The sky will split open and torrents [SIM] [of rain will fall]; the foundations of the earth will shake.

19 The earth is completely broken, it is parted in two, it is violently moved.

The earth will split apart and be shattered; it will shake violently.

20 The earth will be moving uncertainly, like a man overcome by drink; it will be shaking like a tent; and the weight of its sin will be on it, crushing it down so that it will not get up again.

[It will be as though] the earth will stagger like [SIM] a drunk; it will shake like [SIM] a hut [shakes in a windstorm]. It will collapse and not [be able to] rise again, [because] the guilt of the people who rebel [against Yahweh] is very great.

21 And in that day the Lord will send punishment on the army of the high ones on high, and on the kings of the earth on the earth.

At that time, Yahweh will punish the [wicked] powerful beings in the skies and the wicked kings on the earth.

22 And they will be got together, like prisoners in the prison-house; and after a long time they will have their punishment.

They will [all] be gathered together and thrown into a dungeon/pit. They will be shut/locked in that dungeon/pit, and later they will be punished.

23 Then the moon will be veiled, and the sun put to shame; for the Lord of armies will be ruling in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his judges he will let his glory be seen.

At that time the light of the moon and the sun will be lessened; [it will be as though] they are ashamed [in the presence of] Yahweh, because he, the Commander of the armies of angels, will rule gloriously (on Zion Hill/in Jerusalem), in the presence of the leaders [of his people].