Isaiah 24

1 Behold, the Lord maketh empty the land, and layeth it waste, marreth its surface, and scattereth abroad its inhabitants.

Behold, the Lord is about to lay waste the world, and will make it desolate, and will lay bare the surface of it, and scatter them that dwell therein.

2 And it shall be with the people as with the priest; with the servant as with his master; with the bondwoman as with her mistress; with the buyer as with the seller; with the lender as with the borrower; with the debtor as with his creditor.

And the people shall be as the priest, and the servant as the lord, and the maid as the mistress; the buyer shall be as the seller, the lender as the borrower, and the debtor as his creditor.

3 Empty, emptied out shall be the land, and spoiled, utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word.

The earth shall be completely laid waste, and the earth shall be utterly spoiled: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.

4 The land mourneth, withereth away, the world languishes, withereth away, the high ones of the people of the land do languish.

The earth mourns, and the world is ruined, the lofty ones of the earth are mourning.

5 For the land was defiled under its inhabitants; because they had transgressed the laws, neglected the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.

And she has sinned by reason of her inhabitants; because they have transgressed the law, and changed the ordinances, [even] the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the land, and they that dwell therein suffer for their guilt; therefore are the inhabitants of the land dried up, and but few men are left.

Therefore a curse shall consume the earth, because the inhabitants thereof have sinned: therefore the dwellers in the earth shall be poor, and few men shall be left.

7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted sigh.

The wine shall mourn, the vine shall mourn, all the merry-hearted shall sigh.

8 At rest is the mirth of the tambourines; ceased hath the tumult of the joyful; at rest is the mirth of the harp.

The mirth of timbrels has ceased, the sound of the harp has ceased.

9 Amidst singing shall they no [more] drink wine; bitter shall be the strong drink to those that drink it.

They are ashamed, they have not drunk wine; strong drink has become bitter to them that drink [it].

10 Broken down is the city of desolation; shut up is every house that none can enter.

All the city has become desolate: one shall shut his house so that none shall enter.

11 A [painful] cry for wine is in the streets; darkened is all joy; banished is the mirth of the land.

There is a howling for the wine everywhere; all the mirth of the land has ceased, all the mirth of the land has departed.

12 Destruction is left in the city, in ruins is beaten the gate.

And cities shall be left desolate, and houses being left shall fall to ruin.

13 For thus shall it be in the midst of the land among the nations, as [at] the shaking of an olive-tree, as [at] the gleaning of grains when the vintage is done.

All this shall be in the land in the midst of the nations, as if one should strip an olive tree, so shall they strip them; but when the vintage is done,

14 These shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; because of the majesty of the Lord, they shout aloud from the sea.

these shall cry aloud; and they that are left on the land shall rejoice together in the glory of the Lord: the water of the sea shall be troubled.

15 Therefore in the valleys honor ye the Lord; in the isles of the sea, the name of the Lord the God of Israel.

Therefore shall the glory of the Lord be in the isles of the sea; the name of the Lord shall be glorious.

16 From the edge of the earth have we heard songs, “Glory to the righteous.” But I said, “Evil is mine, evil is mine, woe is me! the treacherous have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.”

O Lord God of Israel, from the ends of the earth we have heard wonderful things, [and there is] hope to the godly: but they shall say, Woe to the despisers, that despise the law.

17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the land.

Fear, and a pit, and a snare, are upon you that dwell on the earth.

18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the call of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare; for the windows from on high are opened, and there quaked the foundations of the earth.

And it shall come to pass, [that] he that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the pit shall be caught by the snare: for windows have been opened in heaven, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken,

19 Crushed entirely is the earth, split in pieces is the earth, shaken to its centre is the earth.

the earth shall be utterly confounded, and the earth shall be completely perplexed.

20 The earth reeleth to and fro like a drunkard, and vibrateth like a watch-hut; and heavily lieth upon it its transgression; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

It reels as a drunkard and one oppressed with wine, and the earth shall be shaken as a storehouse of fruits; for iniquity has prevailed upon it, and it shall fall, and shall not be able to rise.

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

And God shall bring [his] hand upon the host of heaven, and upon the kings of the earth.

22 And they shall be gathered in heaps, as prisoners, in the prison, and shall be shut up in the dungeon, and thus after many days shall they be punished.

And they shall gather the multitude thereof into prisons, and they shall shut them into a strong hold: after many generations they shall be visited.

23 And the moon shall be put to the blush, and the sun be made ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign on mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients in glory.

And the brick shall decay, and the wall shall fall; for the Lord shall reign from out of Sion, and out of Jerusalem, and shall be glorified before [his] elders.