< 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.
Watch out! The Lord is going to destroy the earth, to make it totally devastated. He's going to rip up the surface of the earth 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.
It will happen the same for everybody—whether people or priests, servants or their masters, maids or their mistresses, buyers or sellers, lenders or borrowers, creditors or debtors.
3 The earth is utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, For YHWH has spoken this word:
The earth will be completely laid waste and looted. This is what the Lord has said.
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 dries up and withers away; the world shrivels up and withers away, the high and mighty people shrivel up along with the earth.
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 polluted by its people; they have flouted God's laws, violated his regulations, and broken the eternal agreement with him.
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.
That is why a curse is destroying the earth. The people suffer because of their guilt. The inhabitants of the earth are burned up 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, and the vine withers. All the people celebrating groan.
8 The joy of tambourines has ceased, The noise of exulting ones has ceased, The joy of a harp has ceased.
The happy sound of tambourines is over; the noise of the party-goers has stopped; the delightful harp music has finished,
9 They do not drink wine with a song, Strong drink is bitter to those drinking it.
People don't sing any more as they drink wine, and the beer tastes bitter.
10 It was broken down—a city of emptiness, Every house has been shut from [its] entrance.
The chaotic city is falling apart; every house is barred shut to keep others out.
11 In out-places [is] a cry over the wine, All joy has been darkened, The joy of the land has been removed.
Crowds on the street are shouting, demanding to have wine. Joy turns into darkness. There's no happiness left on earth.
12 Desolation [is] left in the city, And the gate is struck [with] ruin.
The city is in a horrible state of ruin; its gates have been broken down.
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,
This is the way it's going to be all throughout the earth among the nations—only a few olives are left after the tree is shaken, only a few grapes are left to be gleaned after the harvest.
14 They lift up their voice, They sing of the excellence of YHWH, They have cried aloud from the sea.
These survivors shout aloud and sing for joy. From the west they praise the Lord's majesty.
15 Therefore honor YHWH in prosperity, In islands of the sea, the Name of YHWH, God of Israel.
From the east they glorify the Lord; from the sea shores they praise the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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.
We hear songs coming from the ends of the earth, singing, “Glory to the God who does right.” But I'm miserable, miserable. Pity me! Deceitful people go on betraying, again and again.
17 Fear, and a snare, and a trap, [Are] on you, O inhabitant of the earth.
Terrors and pit-traps and snares are waiting for you, people 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.
Those who run away in terror will fall into a pit-trap, and those who escape from the pit-trap will be caught in a snare. Heaven's windows are opened; earth's foundations shake.
19 The earth has been utterly broken down, The earth has been utterly broken, The earth has been utterly moved.
The earth is completely broken up; the earth is ripped apart, the earth is violently shaken.
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 to and fro like a drunk, and sways this way and that like a shelter. The guilt of its rebelliousness weighs heavily on it, and it collapses—it won't 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.
At that time the Lord will punish all the high heavenly beings and the kings of the earth.
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 brought together, prisoners in a pit. They will be imprisoned, and eventually they will be punished.
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 embarrassed and the sun will be ashamed, for the Lord Almighty will reign in glory on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem in the presence of its leaders.

< Isaiah 24 >