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.c

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,d

for they have transgressed teachings,

overstepped decrees,

and broken the permanent covenant.e

6 Therefore a curse has consumed the earth,f

and its inhabitants have become guilty;

the earth’s inhabitants have been burned,

and only a few survive.