Isaiah 24

1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad 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 And it shall be, 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 lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him.

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 shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD 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 earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

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

5 The earth also is defiled under its inhabitants; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken 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 hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell in it are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men 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 the merry-hearted 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 endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

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

9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

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

10 The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may enter.

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

11 [There] is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, 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 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

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

13 When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, [there shall be] as the shaking of an olive-tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.

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 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud 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 glorify ye the LORD in the fires, [even] the name of the LORD 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 uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, [even] glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe to me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yes, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

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 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, [are] upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

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

18 And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.

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 entirely dissolved, the earth is exceedingly moved.

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

20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression of it shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

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 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall 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 And they shall be gathered, [as] prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and 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 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign on mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

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.