Isaiah 24–26

Chapter 24

Judgment on the Earth

¹Behold, the Lord ^alays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants.

²And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the ^acreditor like the debtor.

³The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word.

⁴The ^aearth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the ^bexalted of the people of the earth fade away.

⁵The earth is also ^apolluted ¹by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, ^bbroke the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore, a ^acurse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the ^binhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

⁷The ^anew wine mourns,

The vine decays,

All the merry-hearted sigh.

⁸The ^agaiety of tambourines ceases,

The noise of revelers stops,

The gaiety of the harp ceases.

⁹They do not drink wine with song;

^aStrong drink is ^bbitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰The ^acity of chaos is broken down;

^bEvery house is shut up so that none may enter.

¹¹There is an ^aoutcry in the streets concerning the wine;

^bAll joy ¹turns to gloom.

The gaiety of the earth is banished.

¹²Desolation is left in the city

And the ^agate is battered to ruins.

¹³For ^athus it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,

As the ¹shaking of an olive tree,

As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over.

^14aThey raise their voices, they shout for joy;

They cry out from the ¹west concerning the majesty of the Lord.

¹⁵Therefore ^aglorify the Lord in the ¹east,

The ^bname of the Lord, the God of Israel,

In the ^2ccoastlands of the sea.

¹⁶From the ^aends of the earth we hear songs, “^bGlory to the Righteous One,”

But I say, “^1cWoe to me! Woe to me! Alas for me!

The ^dtreacherous deal treacherously,

And the treacherous deal very treacherously.”

^17aTerror and pit and snare

¹Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.

¹⁸Then it will be that he who flees the ¹report of disaster will fall into the pit,

And he who ²climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare;

For the ^awindows ³above are opened, and the ^bfoundations of the earth shake.

^19aThe earth is broken asunder,

The earth is ^bsplit through,

The earth is shaken violently.

²⁰The earth ^areels to and fro like a drunkard

And it totters like a ¹shack,

For its ^btransgression is heavy upon it,

And it will fall, ^cnever to rise again.

²¹So it will happen in that day,

That the Lord will ^apunish the host of ¹heaven on high,

And the ^bkings of the earth on earth.

²²They will be gathered together

Like ^aprisoners in the ¹dungeon,

And will be confined in prison;

And after many days they will ^bbe punished.

²³Then the ^amoon will be abashed and the sun ashamed,

For the ^bLord of hosts will reign on ^cMount Zion and in Jerusalem,

And His glory will be before His elders.

Chapter 25

Song of Praise for God’s Favor

¹O Lord, You are ^amy God;

I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;

For You have ^bworked wonders,

^cPlans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

²For You have made a city into a ^aheap,

A ^bfortified city into a ruin;

A ^cpalace of strangers is a city no more,

It will never be rebuilt.

³Therefore a strong people will ^aglorify You;

^bCities of ruthless nations will revere You.

⁴For You have been a ^adefense for the helpless,

A defense for the needy in his distress,

A ^brefuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;

For the breath of the ^cruthless

Is like a rain storm against a wall.

⁵Like heat in drought, You subdue the ^auproar of aliens;

Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is ¹silenced.

^6aThe Lord of hosts will prepare a ¹lavish banquet for ^ball peoples on this mountain;

A banquet of ²aged wine, ³choice pieces with marrow,

And ⁴refined, aged wine.

⁷And on this mountain He will swallow up the ^1acovering which is over all peoples,

Even the veil which is ²stretched over all nations.

⁸He will ^aswallow up death for all time,

And the Lord ¹God will ^bwipe tears away from all faces,

And He will remove the ^creproach of His people from all the earth;

For the Lord has spoken.

⁹And it will be said in that day,

“Behold, ^athis is our God for whom we have ^bwaited that ^cHe might save us.

This is the Lord for whom we have waited;

^dLet us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

¹⁰For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,

And ^aMoab will be trodden down in his place

As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile.

¹¹And he will ^aspread out his hands in the middle of it

As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,

But the Lord will ^blay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.

¹²The ^aunassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,

Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.

Chapter 26

Song of Trust in God’s Protection

^1aIn that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a ^bstrong city;

He sets up walls and ramparts for ^1csecurity.

²“Open the ^agates, that the ^brighteous nation may enter,

The one that ¹remains faithful.

³“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect ^apeace,

Because he trusts in You.

⁴“^aTrust in the Lord forever,

For in ¹God the Lord, we have an everlasting ^bRock.

⁵“For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the ^aunassailable city;

^bHe lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.

⁶“^aThe foot will trample it,

The feet of the ^bafflicted, the steps of the helpless.”

⁷The ^away of the righteous is smooth;

O Upright One, ^bmake the path of the righteous level.

⁸Indeed, while following the way of ^aYour judgments, O Lord,

We have waited for You eagerly;

^bYour name, even Your ^cmemory, is the desire of our souls.

^9aAt night ¹my soul longs for You,

Indeed, ²my spirit within me ^bseeks You diligently;

For when the earth ³experiences Your judgments

The inhabitants of the world ^clearn righteousness.

¹⁰Though the wicked is shown favor,

He does not ^alearn righteousness;

He ^bdeals unjustly in the land of uprightness,

And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.

¹¹O Lord, Your hand is lifted up yet they ^ado not see it.

¹They see ^bYour zeal for the people and are put to shame;

Indeed, ^2cfire will devour Your enemies.

¹²Lord, You will establish ^apeace for us,

Since You have also performed for us all our works.

¹³O Lord our God, ^aother masters besides You have ruled us;

But through You alone we ^1bconfess Your name.

^14aThe dead will not live, the ¹departed spirits will not rise;

Therefore You have ^bpunished and destroyed them,

And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.

^15aYou have increased the nation, O Lord,

You have increased the nation, You are glorified;

You have ^bextended all the borders of the land.

¹⁶O Lord, they sought You ^ain distress;

They ¹could only whisper a prayer,

Your chastening was upon them.

^17aAs the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,

She writhes and cries out in her labor pains,

Thus were we before You, O Lord.

¹⁸We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,

We ^agave birth, as it seems, only to wind.

We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,

Nor were ^binhabitants of the world ¹born.

¹⁹Your ^adead will live;

¹Their corpses will rise.

You who lie in the dust, ^bawake and shout for joy,

For your dew is as the dew of the ²dawn,

And the earth will ³give birth to the ⁴departed spirits.

²⁰Come, my people, ^aenter into your rooms

And close your doors behind you;

Hide for a little ^1bwhile

Until ^cindignation ²runs its course.

²¹For behold, the Lord is about to ^acome out from His place

To ^bpunish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;

And the earth will ^creveal her bloodshed

And will no longer cover her slain.