Isaiah 24

¹ Lo, the LORD empties the land and lays it waste; he turns it upside down, scattering its inhabitants:

² Layman and priest alike, servant and master, The maid as her mistress, the buyer as the seller, The lender as the borrower, the creditor as the debtor.

³ The earth is utterly laid waste, utterly stripped, for the LORD has decreed this thing.

⁴ The earth mourns and fades, the world languishes and fades; both heaven and earth languish.

⁵ The earth is polluted because of its inhabitants, who have transgressed laws, violated statutes, broken the ancient covenant.

⁶ Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants pay for their guilt; Therefore they who dwell on earth turn pale, and few men are left.

⁷ The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted groan.

⁸ Stilled are the cheerful timbrels, ended the shouts of the jubilant, stilled is the cheerful harp.

⁹ They cannot sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who partake of it.

¹⁰ Broken down is the city of chaos, shut against entry, every house.

¹¹ In the streets they cry out for lack of wine; all joy has disappeared and cheer has left the land.

¹² In the city nothing remains but ruin; its gates are battered and desolate.

¹³ Thus it is within the land, and among the peoples, As with an olive tree after it is beaten, as with a gleaning when the vintage is done.

¹⁴ These lift up their voice in acclaim; from the sea they proclaim the majesty of the LORD:

¹⁵ "For this, in the coastlands, give glory to the LORD! In the coastlands of the sea, to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel!"

¹⁶ From the end of the earth we hear songs: "Splendor to the Just One!" But I said, "I am wasted, wasted away. Woe is me! The traitors betray: with treachery have the traitors betrayed!

¹⁷ Terror, pit, and trap are upon you, inhabitant of the earth;

¹⁸ He who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit; He who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For the windows on high will be opened and the foundations of the earth will shake.

¹⁹ The earth will burst asunder, the earth will be shaken apart, the earth will be convulsed.

²⁰ The earth will reel like a drunkard, and it will sway like a hut; Its rebellion will weigh it down, until it falls, never to rise again."

²¹ On that day the LORD will punish the host of the heavens in the heavens, and the kings of the earth on the earth.

²² They will be gathered together like prisoners into a pit; They will be shut up in a dungeon, and after many days they will be punished.

²³ Then the moon will blush and the sun grow pale, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, glorious in the sight of his elders.