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.
Look, Yahweh is about to empty the earth, to devastate it, mar 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.
It will come about that, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the receiver of interest, so with the giver of interest.
3 The earth is utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, For YHWH has spoken this word:
The earth will be completely devastated and completely stripped; for Yahweh has 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 earth dries up and withers, the world shrivels up and fades away, the prominent people 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 polluted by its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, 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 devours the earth, and its inhabitants are found guilty. The inhabitants of the earth burn up, and few people are left.
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 merry-hearted 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 the tambourines stops, and the revelry of those who rejoice; the joy of the lyre ceases.
9 They do not drink wine with a song, Strong drink is bitter to those drinking it.
They no longer drink wine and sing, and the beer is bitter to those who drink it.
10 It was broken down—a city of emptiness, Every house has been shut from [its] entrance.
The city of chaos has been broken down; every house is closed up and empty.
11 In out-places [is] a cry over the wine, All joy has been darkened, The joy of the land has been removed.
There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; all joy is darkened, the gladness of the land has disappeared.
12 Desolation [is] left in the city, And the gate is struck [with] ruin.
In the city is left a desolation, and the gate is broken into a ruin.
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 this is how it will be on the whole earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as the gleanings when the grape harvest is done.
14 They lift up their voice, They sing of the excellence of YHWH, They have cried aloud from the sea.
They will lift up their voices and shout the majesty of Yahweh, and will joyfully shout from the sea.
15 Therefore honor YHWH in prosperity, In islands of the sea, the Name of YHWH, God of Israel.
Therefore in the east glorify Yahweh, and in the isles of the sea give glory to the name of Yahweh, 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 farthest part of the earth we have heard songs, “Glory to the righteous one!” But I said, “I have wasted away, I have wasted away, woe is me! The treacherous have dealt treacherously; yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.”
17 Fear, and a snare, and a trap, [Are] on you, O inhabitant of the earth.
Terror, the pit, and the snare are upon you, inhabitants 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.
He who flees from the sound of terror will fall into the pit, and he who comes up out of the middle of the pit will be caught in the snare. The windows of the heavens will be opened, and the foundations of the earth will shake.
19 The earth has been utterly broken down, The earth has been utterly broken, The earth has been utterly moved.
The earth will be completely broken, the earth ripped apart; the earth will be 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 will stagger like a drunken man and it will sway back and forth like a hut. Its sin will be heavy on it and it will fall and never 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.
On that day Yahweh will punish the host of the heaven in the heavens, and the kings of the earth on 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 gathered together, prisoners in a pit, and will be shut up in a prison; and after many days 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!
Then the moon will be ashamed, and the sun disgraced, for Yahweh of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders in glory.
