Isaiah 24

1 Behold, the Lord will lay waste to the earth, and he will strip it, and he will afflict its surface, and he will scatter its inhabitants.

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

2 And this 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 the creditor, so with the debtor.

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.

3 The earth will be utterly devastated and utterly plundered. For the Lord has spoken this word.

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

4 The earth mourned, and slipped away, and languished. The world slipped away; the loftiness of the people of the earth was weakened.

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.

5 And the earth was corrupted by its inhabitants. For they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have dissipated the everlasting covenant.

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.

6 Because of this, a curse will devour the earth, and its inhabitants will sin. And for this reason, its caretakers will become crazed, and few men will be left behind.

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.

7 The vintage has mourned. The vine has languished. All those who were rejoicing in their hearts have groaned.

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

8 The gladness of the drums has ceased. The sound of rejoicing has quieted. The sweetness of stringed instruments has been silenced.

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

9 They will not drink wine with a song. The drink will be bitter to those who drink it.

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

10 The city of vanity has been worn away. Every house has been closed up; no one enters.

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

11 There will be a clamor for wine in the streets. All rejoicing has been abandoned. The gladness of the earth has been carried away.

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.

12 Solitude is what remains in the city, and calamity will overwhelm its gates.

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

13 For so shall it be in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people: it is as if the few remaining olives are being shaken from the olive tree, and it is like a few clusters of grapes, when the grape harvest has already ended.

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.

14 These few shall lift up their voice and give praise. When the Lord will have been glorified, they will make a joyful noise from the sea.

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

15 Because of this, glorify the Lord in doctrine: the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea.

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

16 From the ends of the earth, we have heard the praises of the glory of the Just One. And I said: “My secret is for myself! My secret is for myself! Woe to me! Those who would betray us have betrayed us, and they have betrayed us with the betrayal of transgression.”

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.

17 Dread, and the pit, and the snare are over you, O inhabitant of the earth!

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

18 And this shall be: whoever will flee from the voice of dread will fall into the pit. And whoever will extricate himself from the pit will be caught in the snare. For the floodgates from above have been opened, and the foundations of the earth will be shaken.

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.

19 The earth will be utterly broken! The earth will be utterly crushed! The earth will be utterly shaken!

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

20 The earth will stagger greatly, like a drunken man, and will be carried away, like the tent of a single night. And its iniquity will be heavy upon it, and it will fall and not rise up again.

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.

21 And this shall be: in that day, the Lord will visit upon the armies of the sky above, and upon the kings of the earth who are on the ground.

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.

22 And they will be gathered together like the gathering of one bundle into a pit. And they will be enclosed in that place, as in a prison. And after many days, they will be visited.

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

23 And the moon will be ashamed, and the sun will be confounded, when the Lord of hosts will reign on mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and when he will have been glorified in the sight of his elders.

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.