The Earth Judged

24 Look, the Lord is stripping the earth bare

and making it desolate.

He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants:

2 people and priest alike,

servant and master,

female servant and mistress,

buyer and seller,

lender and borrower,

creditor and debtor.

3 The earth will be stripped completely bare

and will be totally plundered,

for the Lord has spoken this message. t

4 The earth mourns and withers;

the world wastes away and withers;

the exalted people of the earth waste away.

5 The earth is polluted by its inhabitants, u

for they have transgressed teachings,

overstepped decrees,

and broken the everlasting covenant. v

6 Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, w

and its inhabitants have become * guilty;

the earth’s inhabitants have been burned,

and only a few survive.

7 The new wine mourns; x

the vine withers.

All the carousers now groan.

8 The joyful tambourines y have ceased.

The noise of the jubilant has stopped.

The joyful lyre has ceased.

9 They no longer sing and drink wine;

beer is bitter to those who drink it.

10 The city of chaos is shattered; z

every house is closed to entry. a

11 In the streets they cry b for wine.

All joy grows dark;

earth’s rejoicing goes into exile.

12 Only desolation remains in the city;

its gate has collapsed in ruins.

13 For this is how it will be on earth

among the nations:

like a harvested olive tree,

like a gleaning after a grape harvest. c

14 They raise their voices, they sing out;

they proclaim in the west

the majesty of the Lord.

15 Therefore, in the east honor the Lord!

In the islands of the west

honor the name of * Yahweh,

the God of Israel.

16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs:

The Splendor of the Righteous One. d

But I said, “I waste away! I waste away! e

Woe is me.”

The treacherous act treacherously;

the treacherous deal very treacherously. f

17 Panic, pit, and trap await you g

who dwell on the earth. h

18 Whoever flees at the sound of panic

will fall into a pit,

and whoever escapes from the pit

will be caught in a trap.

For the windows are opened from heaven, i

and the foundations of the earth are shaken. j

19 The earth is completely devastated;

the earth is split open;

the earth is violently shaken.

20 The earth staggers like a drunkard k

and sways like a hut.

Earth’s rebellion weighs it down,

and it falls, never to rise again.

21 On that day l the Lord will punish

the host of heaven above

and kings of the earth below.

22 They will be gathered together

like prisoners in a pit. m

They will be confined to a dungeon; n

after many days they will be punished.

23 The moon will be put to shame

and the sun disgraced,

because the Lord of * Hosts will reign as king

on Mount * Zion in Jerusalem,

and He will display His glory

in the presence of His elders. o