Isaiah 24–27

The Lord Will Destroy the Earth

24The Lord is going to completely destroy everything on earth.

He will twist its surface.

He’ll scatter those who live on it.

²Priests and people alike will suffer.

So will masters and their servants.

And so will women and their female servants.

Sellers and buyers alike will suffer.

So will those who borrow and those who lend.

And so will those who owe money and those who lend it.

³The earth will be completely destroyed.

Everything of value will be taken out of it.

That’s what the Lord has said.

⁴The earth will dry up completely.

The world will dry up and waste away.

The most important people on earth will fade away.

⁵The earth is polluted by its people.

They haven’t obeyed the laws of the Lord.

They haven’t done what he told them to do.

They’ve broken the covenant that will last forever.

⁶So the Lord will send a curse on the earth.

Its people will pay for what they’ve done.

They will be burned up.

Very few of them will be left.

⁷The vines and fresh wine will dry up completely.

Those who used to have a good time will groan.

⁸The happy sounds of tambourines will be gone.

The noise of those who enjoy wild parties will stop.

The joyful music of harps will become silent.

⁹People will no longer sing as they drink wine.

Beer will taste bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰Destroyed cities will lie empty.

People will lock themselves inside their houses.

¹¹In the streets people will cry out for wine.

All joy will turn into sadness.

All happiness will be driven out of the earth.

¹²All of the buildings will be knocked down.

Every city gate will be smashed to pieces.

¹³That’s how it will be on the earth.

And that’s how it will be among the nations.

It will be as when workers knock all but a few olives off the trees.

It will be like a vine that has only a few grapes left after the harvest.

¹⁴Those who are left alive will shout with joy.

People from the west will praise the Lord because he is the King.

¹⁵So give glory to him, you who live in the east.

Honor the name of the Lord, you who are in the islands of the sea.

He is the God of Israel.

¹⁶From one end of the earth to the other we hear singing.

People are saying,

“Give glory to the One who always does what is right.”

But I said, “I feel very bad.

I’m getting weaker and weaker.

How terrible it is for me!

People turn against one another.

They can’t be trusted.

So they turn against each other.”

¹⁷People of the earth,

terror, a pit and a trap are waiting for you.

¹⁸Anyone who runs away from the terror

will fall into the pit.

Anyone who climbs out of the pit

will be caught in the trap.

The Lord will open the windows of the skies.

He will flood the land.

The foundations of the earth will shake.

¹⁹The earth will be broken up.

It will split open.

It will be shaken to pieces.

²⁰The earth will be unsteady like someone who is drunk.

It will sway like a tent in the wind.

Its sin will weigh so heavily on it that it will fall.

It will never get up again.

²¹At that time the Lord will punish

the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens above.

He will also punish the kings on the earth below.

²²They will be brought together

like prisoners in chains.

They’ll be locked up in prison.

After many days the Lord will punish them.

²³The Lord who rules over all will rule

on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.

The elders of the city will be there.

They will see his glory.

His rule will be so glorious that the sun and moon

will be too ashamed to shine.

A Song of Praise

25Lord, you are my God.

I will honor you.

I will praise your name.

You have been perfectly faithful.

You have done wonderful things.

You had planned them long ago.

²You have turned cities into piles of trash.

You have pulled down the high walls that were around them.

You have destroyed our enemies’ forts.

They will never be rebuilt.

³Powerful nations will honor you.

Even sinful people from their cities will have respect for you.

⁴Poor people have come to you for safety.

You have kept needy people safe when they were in trouble.

You have been a place to hide when storms came.

You have been a shade from the heat of the sun.

Evil people attack us.

They are like a storm beating against a wall.

⁵They are like the heat of the desert.

You stopped the noisy shouts of our enemies.

You kept them from winning the battle over us and singing about it.

You are like the shadow of a cloud that cools the earth.

⁶On Mount Zion the Lord who rules over all will prepare

a feast for all of the nations.

The best and richest foods

and the finest aged wines will be served.

⁷On that mountain the Lord will destroy

the veil of sadness that covers all of the nations.

He will destroy the gloom that is spread over everyone.

⁸He will swallow up death forever.

The Lord and King will wipe away the tears

from everyone’s face.

He will remove the shame of his people

from the whole earth.

The Lord has spoken.

⁹At that time they will say,

“He is our God.

We trusted in him, and he saved us.

He is the Lord. We trusted in him.

Let us be filled with joy because he saved us.”

¹⁰The Lord’s powerful hand will keep Mount Zion safe.

But he will walk all over Moab.

Its people will be crushed,

just as straw is crushed in animal waste.

¹¹They will try to swim their way out of it.

They will spread their hands out in it,

just as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim.

But God will bring down Moab’s pride.

None of their skill will help them.

¹²He will pull down their high, strong walls.

He will bring them down to the ground.

He’ll bring them right down to the dust.

Another Song of Praise

26At that time a song will be sung in the land of Judah. It will say,

“We have a strong city.

God’s saving power surrounds it

like walls and towers.

²Open its gates

so that those who do what is right can enter.

They are the people who remain faithful to God.

³Lord, you will give perfect peace

to anyone who commits himself to be faithful to you.

That’s because he trusts in you.

⁴“Trust in the Lord forever.

The Lord is the Rock.

The Lord will keep us safe forever.

⁵He brings down those who are proud.

He pulls down cities that have high walls.

They fall down flat on the ground.

He throws them down to the dust.

⁶The feet of those who were crushed stomp on them.

Those who were helpless walk all over them.”

⁷Lord, you are honest and fair.

You guide those who do what is right.

You lead them on a straight path.

You make their way smooth.

⁸Lord, we are living the way your laws command us to live.

We are waiting for you to act.

Our hearts long for you to be true to your name.

That’s what you are known for.

⁹My heart longs for you at night.

My spirit longs for you in the morning.

You will come and judge the earth.

Then the people of the world will learn to do what is right.

¹⁰Grace is shown to sinful people.

But they still don’t learn to do what is right.

They keep on doing evil even in a land where others are honest and fair.

They don’t have any respect for the majesty of the Lord.

¹¹Lord, you have raised your hand high to punish them.

But they don’t even see it.

Let them see how much you love your people.

Then they will be put to shame.

Let the fire you are saving for your enemies burn them up.

¹²Lord, you give us peace.

You are the one who has done everything we’ve accomplished.

¹³Lord, you are our God.

Other masters besides you have ruled over us.

But your name is the only one we honor.

¹⁴Those other masters are now dead.

They will never live again.

Their spirits won’t rise from the dead.

You punished them and destroyed them.

You wiped out all memory of them.

¹⁵Lord, you have made our nation grow.

You have made it larger.

You have gained glory for yourself.

You have increased the size of our land.

¹⁶Lord, when your people were suffering, they came to you.

When you punished them,

they could barely whisper a prayer.

¹⁷Lord, you made us like a woman who is having a baby.

She groans and cries out in pain.

¹⁸We were pregnant. We groaned with pain.

But nothing was born.

We didn’t bring your saving power to the earth.

We didn’t give life to the people of the world.

¹⁹Israel, those among you who have died will live again.

Their bodies will rise from the dead.

You who lie in the grave,

wake up and shout with joy.

The dew of the morning gives life to the earth.

So the earth will give up its dead people.

²⁰My people, go into your houses.

Shut the doors behind you.

Hide yourselves for a little while.

Do it until the Lord’s anger is over.

²¹He is coming from the place where he lives.

He will punish the people of the earth for their sins.

The blood that has been spilled on the earth will be brought out into the open.

The ground will no longer hide those who have been killed.

Israel Will Be Saved

27At that time

the Lord will punish Leviathan with his sword.

His great, powerful and deadly sword will punish

the serpent that glides through the sea.

He will kill that twisting sea monster.

²At that time the Lord will sing about his fruitful vineyard. He will say,

³“I am the Lord. I watch over my vineyard.

I water it all the time.

I guard it day and night.

I do it so no one can harm it.

⁴I am not angry with my vineyard.

I wish thorns and bushes would come up in it.

Then I would march out against them in battle.

I would set all of them on fire.

⁵So the enemies of my people had better come to me for safety.

They should make peace with me.

I will say it again.

They should make peace with me.”

⁶In days to come, Jacob’s people will put down roots like a vine.

Israel will bud and bloom.

They will fill the whole world with fruit.

⁷The Lord struck down those who struck Israel down.

But he hasn’t punished Israel as much.

The Lord killed those who killed many of his people.

But he hasn’t punished his people as much.

⁸The Lord will use war to punish Israel.

He will make them leave their land.

With a strong blast of his anger he will drive them out.

It will be as if the east wind were blowing.

⁹The people of Jacob will have to pay for their sin.

That must happen in order for their sin to be taken away.

They will make all of…