Isaiah 24
1 Behold, YHWH is emptying the earth, And is making it desolate, And has overturned [it on] its face, And has scattered its inhabitants.
Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—
2 And it has been—as a people so a priest, As the servant so his master, As the maidservant so her mistress, As the buyer so the seller, As the lender so the borrower, As the usurer so he who is lifting [it] on himself.
people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.
3 The earth is utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, For YHWH has spoken this word:
The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered.
4 The earth has mourned, faded, The world has languished, faded, They have languished—the high place of the people of the earth.
The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.
5 And the earth has been defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed laws, They have changed a statute, They have made void a perpetual covenant.
The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, And the inhabitants in it become desolate, Therefore inhabitants of the earth have been consumed, And few men have been left.
Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.
7 The new wine has mourned, the vine languished, All the joyful of heart have sighed.
The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan.
8 The joy of tambourines has ceased, The noise of exulting ones has ceased, The joy of a harp has ceased.
The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent.
9 They do not drink wine with a song, Strong drink is bitter to those drinking it.
They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.
10 It was broken down—a city of emptiness, Every house has been shut from [its] entrance.
The city of chaos is shattered; every house is closed to entry.
11 In out-places [is] a cry over the wine, All joy has been darkened, The joy of the land has been removed.
In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.
12 Desolation [is] left in the city, And the gate is struck [with] ruin.
The city is left in ruins; its gate is reduced to rubble.
13 When thus it is in the heart of the land, In the midst of the peoples, As the surrounding of the olive, As gleanings when harvest has been finished,
So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
14 They lift up their voice, They sing of the excellence of YHWH, They have cried aloud from the sea.
They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they proclaim the majesty of the LORD.
15 Therefore honor YHWH in prosperity, In islands of the sea, the Name of YHWH, God of Israel.
Therefore glorify the LORD in the east. Extol the name of the LORD, the God of Israel in the islands of the sea.
16 From the skirt of the earth we heard songs, The desire of the righteous. And I say, “Leanness [is] to me, Leanness [is] to me, woe [is] to me.” Treacherous dealers dealt treacherously, Indeed, treachery, treacherous dealers dealt treacherously.
From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal in treachery.
17 Fear, and a snare, and a trap, [Are] on you, O inhabitant of the earth.
Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.
18 And it has come to pass, He who is fleeing from the noise of the fear falls into the snare, And he who is coming up from the midst of the snare, Is captured by the trap, For windows have been opened on high, And foundations of the earth are shaken.
Whoever flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.
19 The earth has been utterly broken down, The earth has been utterly broken, The earth has been utterly moved.
The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently.
20 The earth staggers greatly as a drunkard, And it has been moved as a lodge, And its transgression has been heavy on it, And it has fallen, and does not add to rise.
The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.
21 And it has come to pass in that day, YHWH lays a charge on the host of the high place in the high place, And on the kings of the earth on the earth.
In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and the kings of the earth below.
22 And they have been gathered—A gathering of bound ones in a pit, And they have been shut up in a prison, And after a multitude of days are inspected.
They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon and punished after many days.
23 And the moon has been confounded, And the sun has been ashamed, For YHWH of Hosts has reigned In Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, And before His elderly—glory!
The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.
