Isaiah 24

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.