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 maketh empty the land, and layeth it waste, marreth its surface, and scattereth abroad 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.

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.

3 The earth is utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, For YHWH has spoken this word:

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

4 The earth has mourned, faded, The world has languished, faded, They have languished—the high place of the people of the earth.

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

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.

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

7 The new wine has mourned, the vine languished, All the joyful of heart have sighed.

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

8 The joy of tambourines has ceased, The noise of exulting ones has ceased, The joy of a harp has ceased.

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

9 They do not drink wine with a song, Strong drink is bitter to those drinking it.

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

10 It was broken down—a city of emptiness, Every house has been shut from [its] entrance.

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

11 In out-places [is] a cry over the wine, All joy has been darkened, The joy of the land has been removed.

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

12 Desolation [is] left in the city, And the gate is struck [with] ruin.

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

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,

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.

14 They lift up their voice, They sing of the excellence of YHWH, They have cried aloud from the sea.

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

15 Therefore honor YHWH in prosperity, In islands of the sea, the Name of YHWH, God of Israel.

Therefore in the valleys honor ye the Lord; in the isles of the sea, 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.

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.”

17 Fear, and a snare, and a trap, [Are] on you, O inhabitant of the earth.

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

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.

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.

19 The earth has been utterly broken down, The earth has been utterly broken, The earth has been utterly moved.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.