Isaiah 24

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

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 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.

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 Empty, emptied out shall be the land, and spoiled, utterly spoiled; 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 land mourneth, withereth away, the world languishes, withereth away, the high ones of the people of the land do languish.

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

5 For the land was defiled under its inhabitants; because they had transgressed the laws, neglected the statutes, 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 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, [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 mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted 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 At rest is the mirth of the tambourines; ceased hath the tumult of the joyful; at rest is the mirth of the harp.

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 Amidst singing shall they no [more] drink wine; bitter shall be the strong drink to those 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 desolation; shut up is every house that none can enter.

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

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

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

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

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 land among the nations, as [at] the shaking of an olive-tree, as [at] the gleaning of grains 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 These shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; because of the majesty of the Lord, they shout aloud 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 in the valleys honor ye the Lord; in the isles of the sea, the name of the Lord the God of Israel.

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 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.”

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

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 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.

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

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

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 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 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.

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 in heaps, as prisoners, in the prison, and shall be shut up in the dungeon, and thus 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 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.

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].