Isaiah 24

1 Behold, Jehovah emptieth and draineth the land; Yea, he turneth it upside down, and scattereth its inhabitants.

Behold, the Lord is about to lay waste the world, and will make it desolate, and will lay bare the surface of it, and scatter them that dwell therein.

2 As with the people, so is it with the priest; As with the servant, so with the master; As with the maid, so with the mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the borrower, so with the lender; As with the usurer, so with the giver of usury.

And the people shall be as the priest, and the servant as the lord, and the maid as the mistress; the buyer shall be as the seller, the lender as the borrower, and the debtor as his creditor.

3 The land is utterly emptied and utterly plundered; For Jehovah hath spoken this word.

The earth shall be completely laid waste, and the earth shall be utterly spoiled: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.

4 The land mourneth, and withereth; The world languisheth, and withereth; The nobles of the people of the land do languish.

The earth mourns, and the world is ruined, the lofty ones of the earth are mourning.

5 The land was polluted under its inhabitants, Because they transgressed the law, they violated the statutes, They broke the everlasting covenant.

And she has sinned by reason of her inhabitants; because they have transgressed the law, and changed the ordinances, [even] the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore a curse devoured the land; Its inhabitants suffered for their guilt; Therefore are the inhabitants of the land consumed with heat, And few of the men are left.

Therefore a curse shall consume the earth, because the inhabitants thereof have sinned: therefore the dwellers in the earth shall be poor, and few men shall be left.

7 The new wine mourneth; The vine languisheth; All that were of a joyful heart do sigh;

The wine shall mourn, the vine shall mourn, all the merry-hearted shall sigh.

8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth; The noise of them that rejoice is at an end; The joy of the harp ceaseth.

The mirth of timbrels has ceased, the sound of the harp has ceased.

9 No more do they drink wine with the song; Strong drink is bitter to them that use it.

They are ashamed, they have not drunk wine; strong drink has become bitter to them that drink [it].

10 The city of desolation is broken down; Every house is closed, so that none can enter.

All the city has become desolate: one shall shut his house so that none shall enter.

11 There is a cry for wine in the streets; All gladness is departed; The mirth of the land is gone;

There is a howling for the wine everywhere; all the mirth of the land has ceased, all the mirth of the land has departed.

12 Desolation is left in the city, And the gate is smitten into ruins.

And cities shall be left desolate, and houses being left shall fall to ruin.

13 Yea, thus shall it be in the land, in the midst of the people, As when the olive-tree has been shaken; As the gleaning, when the vintage is ended.

All this shall be in the land in the midst of the nations, as if one should strip an olive tree, so shall they strip them; but when the vintage is done,

14 These shall lift up their voice, and sing; Yea, for the majesty of Jehovah they shall shout from the sea.

these shall cry aloud; and they that are left on the land shall rejoice together in the glory of the Lord: the water of the sea shall be troubled.

15 Wherefore praise ye Jehovah in the East, The name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the isles of the sea!

Therefore shall the glory of the Lord be in the isles of the sea; the name of the Lord shall be glorious.

16 From the end of the earth we hear songs: “Glory to the righteous!” But I cry, Alas, my wretchedness, my wretchedness! woe is me! The plunderers plunder; the plunderers seize the spoil.

O Lord God of Israel, from the ends of the earth we have heard wonderful things, [and there is] hope to the godly: but they shall say, Woe to the despisers, that despise the law.

17 The terror, the pit, and the snare Are upon thee, O inhabitant of the land!

Fear, and a pit, and a snare, are upon you that dwell on the earth.

18 Whoso fleeth from the terror shall fall into the pit, And whoso escapeth from the pit, He shall be taken in the snare; For the floodgates of heaven are opened, And the foundations of the earth tremble.

And it shall come to pass, [that] he that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the pit shall be caught by the snare: for windows have been opened in heaven, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken,

19 The earth is utterly broken down; The earth is shattered in pieces; The earth is violently moved from her place.

the earth shall be utterly confounded, and the earth shall be completely perplexed.

20 The earth reeleth like a drunkard, It moveth to and fro like a hammock; For her iniquity lieth heavy upon her, And she shall fall and rise no more.

It reels as a drunkard and one oppressed with wine, and the earth shall be shaken as a storehouse of fruits; for iniquity has prevailed upon it, and it shall fall, and shall not be able to rise.

21 In that day will Jehovah punish the host of the high ones that are on high, And the kings of the earth upon the earth.

And God shall bring [his] hand upon the host of heaven, and upon the kings of the earth.

22 They shall be thrown together bound into the pit, And shall be shut up in the prison, But after many days shall they be visited.

And they shall gather the multitude thereof into prisons, and they shall shut them into a strong hold: after many generations they shall be visited.

23 The moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed, When Jehovah of hosts shall reign in mount Zion and Jerusalem, And his glory shall be before his ancients.

And the brick shall decay, and the wall shall fall; for the Lord shall reign from out of Sion, and out of Jerusalem, and shall be glorified before [his] elders.