Isaiah 24

1 Behold, the Lord maketh the earth emptie, and hee maketh it waste: hee turneth it vpside downe, and scattereth abrode the inhabitants thereof.

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.

2 And there shalbe like people, like Priest, and like seruaunt, like master, like maide, like mistresse, like bier, like seller, like lender, like borower, like giuer, like taker to vsurie.

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.

3 The earth shalbe cleane emptied, and vtterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this worde.

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

4 The earth lamenteth and fadeth away: the world is feeble and decaied: the proude people of the earth are weakened.

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

5 The earth also deceiueth, because of the inhabitantes thereof: for they transgressed the lawes: they changed the ordinances, and brake the euerlasting couenant.

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.

6 Therefore hath the curse deuoured the earth, and the inhabitantes thereof are desolate. Wherefore the inhabitants of the land are burned vp, and fewe men are left.

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.

7 The wine faileth, the vine hath no might: all that were of merie heart, doe mourne.

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

8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth: the noyse of them that reioyce, endeth: the ioye of the harpe ceaseth.

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

9 They shall not drinke wine with mirth: strong drinke shall be bitter to them that drinke it.

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

10 The citie of vanitie is broken downe: euery house is shut vp, that no man may come in.

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

11 There is a crying for wine in the streetes: al ioy is darkened: the mirth of the world is gone away.

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

12 In the citie is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

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

13 Surely thus shall it bee in the middes of the earth, among the people, as the shaking of an oliue tree, and as the grapes when the vintage is ended.

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.

14 They shall lift vp their voyce: they shall shout for the magnificence of the Lord: they shall reioyce from the sea.

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.

15 Wherefore praise yee the Lord in the valleis, euen the Name of the Lord God of Israel, in the yles of the sea.

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

16 From the vttermost part of the earth wee haue heard praises, euen glory to the iust, and I sayd, My leanesse, my leanesse, woe is mee: the transgressours haue offended: yea, the transgressours haue grieuously offended.

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.”

17 Feare, and the pitte, and the snare are vpon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

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

18 And hee that fleeth from the noyse of the feare, shall fall into the pit: and he that commeth vp out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the windowes from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth doe shake.

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.

19 The earth is vtterly broken downe: the earth is cleane dissolued: the earth is mooued exceedingly.

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

20 The earth shall reele to and from like a drunken man, and shall be remooued like a tent, and the iniquitie thereof shall be heauie vpon it: so that it shall fall, and rise no more.

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.

21 And in that day shall the Lord visite the hoste aboue that is on hie, euen the Kinges of the world that are vpon the earth.

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.

22 And they shall be gathered together, as the prisoners in the pit: and they shall be shut vp in the prison, and after many daies shall they be visited.

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.

23 Then the moone shall be abashed, and the sunne ashamed, when the Lord of hostes shall reigne in mount Zion and in Ierusalem: and glory shalbe before his ancient men.

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.