< Isaiah 24 >
1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
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 shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, 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.
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 shall be utterly emptied, and clean despoiled; for the LORD hath spoken this word.
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 fainteth and fadeth away, the world faileth and fadeth away, the lofty people of the earth do fail.
[Everything on] the earth will dry up and die [DOU]; its important people will become weak and unimportant.
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statute, broken the everlasting covenant.
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 Therefore hath a curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty; therefore the inhabitants of the earth waste away, and men are left few.
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 faileth, the vine fadeth; all the merry-hearted do sigh.
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 mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
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 They drink not wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to them that drink it.
People will no longer sing while they drink wine, and [all] their alcoholic drinks will taste bitter.
10 Broken down is the city of wasteness; every house is shut up, that none 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 amidst the wine; all joy is darkened, the mirth 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 city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten unto ruin.
Cities will be ruined and [all] their gates will be battered/broken into pieces.
13 For thus shall it be in the midst of the earth, among the peoples, as at the beating of an olive-tree, as at the gleanings when the vintage 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 Those yonder lift up their voice, they sing for joy; for the majesty of the LORD they shout from the sea:
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 'Therefore glorify ye the LORD in the regions of light, even the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the isles of the sea.'
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 uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs: 'Glory to the righteous.' But I say: I waste away, I waste away, woe is me! The treacherous deal treacherously; yea, the treacherous deal very treacherously.
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 Terror, and the pit, and the trap, are upon thee, O inhabitant 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 shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the terror shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the trap; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth do shake;
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 broken, broken down, the earth is crumbled in pieces, the earth trembleth and tottereth;
The earth will split apart and be shattered; it will shake violently.
20 The earth reeleth to and fro like a drunken man, and swayeth to and fro as a lodge; and the transgression thereof is heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise 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 it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD will punish the host of the high heaven on high, and the kings of the earth upon 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 shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the dungeon, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be punished.
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 shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His elders shall be Glory.
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].