Isaiah 24
1 Lo! Yahweh emptying the earth and laying it waste, —And he will overturn the face thereof, And scatter them who dwell therein.
Look, Yahweh is about to empty the earth, to devastate it, mar its surface, and scatter its inhabitants.
2 And it shall be—As the people, so, the priest, As the servant, so his lord, As the maid, so, her mistress, —As the buyer, so, the seller, As the lender, so, the borrower, As the debtor, so! his creditor.
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 Emptied—emptied—shall be the earth yea pillaged—pillaged, —For, Yahweh, hath spoken this word.
The earth will be completely devastated and completely stripped; for Yahweh has spoken this word.
4 Mourneth, fadeth, the earth Languisheth, fadeth, the world, —Languished have the lofty 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 Yea the earth itself is profaned under them who dwell therein, —For they have Set aside laws, Gone beyond statute, Broken an age-abiding covenant.
The earth is polluted by its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.
6 For this cause, a curse, hath devoured the earth, And punished are the dwellers therein, —For this cause, are burned the inhabitants of the earth, And the men left remaining—are few.
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 Mourneth the new wine. Withereth the vine, —Sighing are all the merryhearted:
The new wine dries up, the vine withers, all the merry-hearted groan.
8 Ceased hath the mirth of timbrels, Ended is the noise of the uproarious, —Ceased hath the mirth of the lyre:
The happy sound of the tambourines stops, and the revelry of those who rejoice; the joy of the lyre ceases.
9 With a song, they drink not wine, —Bitter is strong drink, to them who drink it:
They no longer drink wine and sing, and the beer is bitter to those who drink it.
10 Broken down is the city of desolation, —Shut up every house that it cannot be entered.
The city of chaos has been broken down; every house is closed up and empty.
11 There is an outcry concerning wine in the streets, —Darkened is all joy, Departed the gladness of the earth.
There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; all joy is darkened, the gladness of the land has disappeared.
12 There is left in the city. desolation, —And to ruins, have been broken the gate.
In the city is left a desolation, and the gate is broken into a ruin.
13 When, thus, it shall be in the earth in the midst of the peoples, [There shall be] like the shaking of an olive-tree, like the going round to pick when closed is the harvest.
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, shall lift up their voice—shall raise a tremulous note, —On account of the splendour of Yahweh, have they made a shrill cry, on the West;
They will lift up their voices and shout the majesty of Yahweh, and will joyfully shout from the sea.
15 For this cause, In the Regions of Light, give ye glory to Yahweh, —In the Coastlands of the Sea, unto the Name of Yahweh. 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 uttermost part of the earth, melodies, have we heard—Beauty, to the righteous one! But I had said—Ruin to me! Ruin to me! Woe to me! Traitors, have betrayed, Yea traitorously, have traitors betrayed!
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 Terror and pit and snare, —are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth!
Terror, the pit, and the snare are upon you, inhabitants of the earth.
18 So shall it be—He that fleeth from the sound of the terror! shall fall into the pit, And, he that getteth up out of the midst of the pit, shall be captured in the snare, —For, the windows on high, have opened, And shaken are the foundations of earth.
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 breaketh, breaketh, —The earth crasheth, crasheth, The earth tottereth, tottereth;
The earth will be completely broken, the earth ripped apart; the earth will be violently shaken.
20 The earth staggereth—staggereth like a drunken man, And rocketh to and fro like a night-hut, —So shall be heavy upon her, her transgression, And she shall fall and not again 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 shall be in that day, That Yahweh will bring punishment Upon the host of the height in the height, —And upon the kings of the ground on the ground.
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 shall be swept together in a crowd, fettered for a pit, And shall be lowered into a dungeon, —And, after many days, shall they be punished.
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 Then shall blush the silvery moon, Then turn pale the glowing sun, —Because Yahweh of hosts hath become king In Mount Zion And in Jerusalem, And before his Elders in 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.
