Judgment on the Whole Earth

24 Behold, cthe Lord will empty the earth1 and make it desolate,

and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

2  dAnd it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;

as with the slave, so with his master;

as with the maid, so with her mistress;

eas with the buyer, so with the seller;

as with the lender, so with the borrower;

fas with the creditor, so with the debtor.

3  gThe earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;

hfor the Lord has spoken this word.

4  iThe earth mourns and withers;

the world languishes and withers;

the highest people of the earth languish.

5  The earth lies jdefiled

under its inhabitants;

for kthey have transgressed the laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant.

6  Therefore la curse devours the earth,

and its inhabitants msuffer for their guilt;

therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,

and few men are left.

7  nThe wine mourns,

the vine languishes,

all the merry-hearted sigh.

8  oThe mirth of the tambourines is stilled,

the noise of the jubilant has ceased,

the mirth of the lyre is stilled.

9  No more do they drink wine pwith singing;

strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

10  qThe wasted city is broken down;

revery house is shut up so that none can enter.

11  sThere is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;

tall joy has grown dark;

the gladness of the earth is banished.

12  Desolation is left in the city;

the gates are battered into ruins.

13  For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth

among the nations,

uas when an olive tree is beaten,

as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

14  They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;

over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.2

15  vTherefore in the east3 give glory to the Lord;

in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

16  wFrom the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,

of glory to xthe Righteous One.

But I say, “I waste away,

I waste away. Woe is me!

For ythe traitors have betrayed,

with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

17  zTerror and the pit and the snare4

are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!

18  zHe who flees at the sound of the terror

shall fall into the pit,

and he who climbs out of the pit

shall be caught in the snare.

For athe windows of heaven are opened,

and bthe foundations of the earth tremble.

19  The earth is utterly broken,

the earth is split apart,

the earth is violently shaken.

20  The earth cstaggers like a drunken man;

it sways like a hut;

dits transgression lies heavy upon it,

and it falls, and will not rise again.

21  On that day the Lord will punish

the host of heaven, in heaven,

and ethe kings of the earth, on the earth.

22  fThey will be gathered together

as prisoners in a pit;

they will be shut up in a prison,

and after many days gthey will be punished.

23  hThen the moon will be confounded

and the sun ashamed,

for ithe Lord of hosts reigns

on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

and his glory will be before his elders.