Isaiah 24

1 Lo, Jehovah is emptying the land, And is making it waste, And hath overturned [it on] its face, And hath scattered its inhabitants.

See, the Lord is making the earth waste and unpeopled, he is turning it upside down, and sending the people in all directions.

2 And it hath been — as a people so a priest, As the servant so his master, As the maid-servant 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 will be the same for the people as for the priest; for the servant as for his master; and for the woman-servant as for her owner; the same for the one offering goods for a price as for him who takes them; the same for him who gives money at interest and for him who takes it; the same for him who lets others have the use of his property as for those who make use of it.

3 Utterly emptied is the land, and utterly spoiled, For Jehovah hath spoken this word:

The earth will be completely waste and without men; for this is the word of the Lord.

4 Mourned, faded hath the land, Languished, faded hath the world, Languished have they — the high place of the people of the land.

The earth is sorrowing and wasting away, the world is full of grief and wasting away, the high ones of the earth come to nothing.

5 And the land hath been defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed laws, They have changed a statute, They have made void a covenant age-during.

The earth has been made unclean by those living in it; because the laws have not been kept by them, the orders have been changed, and the eternal agreement has been broken.

6 Therefore a curse hath consumed the land, And the inhabitants in it are become desolate, Therefore consumed have been inhabitants of the land, And few men have been left.

For this cause the earth is given up to the curse, and those in it are judged as sinners: for this cause those living on the earth are burned up, and the rest are small in number.

7 Mourned hath the new wine, languished the vine, Sighed have all the joyful of heart.

The new wine is thin, the vine is feeble, and all the glad-hearted make sounds of grief.

8 Ceased hath the joy of tabrets, Ceased hath the noise of exulting ones, Ceased hath the joy of a harp.

The pleasing sound of all instruments of music has come to an end, and the voices of those who are glad.

9 With a song they drink not wine, Bitter is strong drink to those drinking it.

There is no more drinking of wine with a song; strong drink will be bitter to those who take it.

10 It was broken down — a city of emptiness, Shut hath been every house from entrance.

The town is waste and broken down: every house is shut up, so that no man may come in.

11 A cry over the wine [is] in out-places, Darkened hath been all joy, Removed hath been the joy of the land.

There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; there is an end of all delight, the joy of the land is gone.

12 Left in the city [is] desolation, And [with] wasting is the gate smitten.

In the town all is waste, and in the public place is destruction.

13 When thus it is in the heart of the land, In the midst of the peoples, As the compassing of the olive, As gleanings when harvest hath been finished,

For it will be in the heart of the earth among the peoples, like the shaking of an olive-tree, as the last of the grapes after the getting-in is done.

14 They — they lift up their voice, They sing of the excellency of Jehovah, They have cried aloud from the sea.

But those will be making sounds of joy; they will be crying loudly from the sea for the glory of the Lord.

15 Therefore in prosperity honour ye Jehovah, In isles of the sea, the name of Jehovah, God of Israel.

Give praise to the Lord in the east, to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the sea-lands.

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, Yea, treachery, treacherous dealers dealt treacherously.

From the farthest part of the earth comes the sound of songs, glory to the upright. But I said, I am wasting away, wasting away, the curse is on me! The false ones go on in their false way, yes, they go on acting falsely.

17 Fear, and a snare, and a gin, [Are] on thee, O inhabitant of the land.

Fear, and death, and the net, are come on you, O people of the earth.

18 And it hath come to pass, He who is fleeing from the noise of the fear Doth fall into the snare, And he who is coming up from the midst of the snare, Is captured by the gin, For windows on high have been opened, And shaken are foundations of the land.

And it will be that he who goes in flight from the sound of fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for the windows on high are open, and the bases of the earth are shaking.

19 Utterly broken down hath been the land, Utterly broken hath been the land, Utterly moved hath been the land.

The earth is completely broken, it is parted in two, it is violently moved.

20 Stagger greatly doth the land as a drunkard, And it hath been moved as a lodge, And heavy on it hath been its transgression, And it hath fallen, and addeth not to rise.

The earth will be moving uncertainly, like a man overcome by drink; it will be shaking like a tent; and the weight of its sin will be on it, crushing it down so that it will not get up again.

21 And it hath come to pass, in that day, Jehovah layeth a charge on the host of the high place in the high place, And on the kings of the land on the land.

And in that day the Lord will send punishment on the army of the high ones on high, and on the kings of the earth on the earth.

22 And they have been gathered — A gathering of bound ones in a pit, And shut up they have been in a prison, And after a multitude of days are inspected.

And they will be got together, like prisoners in the prison-house; and after a long time they will have their punishment.

23 And confounded hath been the moon, And ashamed hath been the sun, For reigned hath Jehovah of Hosts In mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, And over-against His elders — honour!

Then the moon will be veiled, and the sun put to shame; for the Lord of armies will be ruling in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his judges he will let his glory be seen.