Isaiah 24–27

The Lord’s Devastation of the Earth

24See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth^m

and devastateⁿ it;

he will ruin its face

and scatter^o its inhabitants—

²it will be the same

for priest as for people,^p

for the master as for his servant,

for the mistress as for her servant,

for seller as for buyer,^q

for borrower as for lender,

for debtor as for creditor.^r

³The earth will be completely laid waste^s

and totally plundered.^t

The Lord has spoken^u this word.

⁴The earth dries up^v and withers,^w

the world languishes and withers,

the heavens^x languish with the earth.^y

⁵The earth is defiled^z by its people;

they have disobeyed^a the laws,

violated the statutes

and broken the everlasting covenant.^b

⁶Therefore a curse^c consumes the earth;

its people must bear their guilt.

Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up,^d

and very few are left.

⁷The new wine dries up^e and the vine withers;^f

all the merrymakers groan.^g

⁸The joyful timbrels^h are stilled,

the noiseⁱ of the revelers^j has stopped,

the joyful harp^k is silent.^l

⁹No longer do they drink wine^m with a song;

the beer is bitterⁿ to its drinkers.

¹⁰The ruined city^o lies desolate;^p

the entrance to every house is barred.

¹¹In the streets they cry out^q for wine;^r

all joy turns to gloom,^s

all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.

¹²The city is left in ruins,^t

its gate^u is battered to pieces.

¹³So will it be on the earth

and among the nations,

as when an olive tree is beaten,^v

or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.^w

¹⁴They raise their voices, they shout for joy;^x

from the west^y they acclaim the Lord’s majesty.

¹⁵Therefore in the east^z give glory^a to the Lord;

exalt^b the name^c of the Lord, the God of Israel,

in the islands^d of the sea.

¹⁶From the ends of the earth^e we hear singing:^f

“Glory^g to the Righteous One.”^h

But I said, “I waste away, I waste away!ⁱ

Woe^j to me!

The treacherous^k betray!

With treachery the treacherous betray!^l”

¹⁷Terror^m and pit and snareⁿ await you,

people of the earth.^o

¹⁸Whoever flees^p at the sound of terror

will fall into a pit;^q

whoever climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a snare.^r

The floodgates of the heavens^s are opened,

the foundations of the earth shake.^t

¹⁹The earth is broken up,^u

the earth is split asunder,^v

the earth is violently shaken.

²⁰The earth reels like a drunkard,^w

it sways like a hut^x in the wind;

so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion^y

that it falls^z—never to rise again.^a

²¹In that day^b the Lord will punish^c

the powers^d in the heavens above

and the kings^e on the earth below.

²²They will be herded together

like prisoners^f bound in a dungeon;^g

they will be shut up in prison

and be punished^a after many days.^h

²³The moon will be dismayed,

the sunⁱ ashamed;

for the Lord Almighty will reign^j

on Mount Zion^k and in Jerusalem,

and before its elders—with great glory.^l

Praise to the Lord

25Lord, you are my God;^m

I will exalt you and praise your name,ⁿ

for in perfect faithfulness^o

you have done wonderful things,^p

things planned^q long ago.

²You have made the city a heap of rubble,^r

the fortified^s town a ruin,^t

the foreigners’ stronghold^u a city no more;

it will never be rebuilt.^v

³Therefore strong peoples will honor you;^w

cities of ruthless^x nations will revere you.

⁴You have been a refuge^y for the poor,^z

a refuge for the needy^a in their distress,

a shelter from the storm^b

and a shade from the heat.

For the breath of the ruthless^c

is like a storm driving against a wall

⁵and like the heat of the desert.

You silence^d the uproar of foreigners;^e

as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,

so the song of the ruthless^f is stilled.

⁶On this mountain^g the Lord Almighty will prepare

a feast^h of rich food for all peoples,

a banquet of aged wine—

the best of meats and the finest of wines.ⁱ

⁷On this mountain he will destroy

the shroud^j that enfolds all peoples,^k

the sheet that covers all nations;

⁸he will swallow up death^l forever.

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears^m

from all faces;

he will remove his people’s disgraceⁿ

from all the earth.

The Lord has spoken.^o

⁹In that day^p they will say,

“Surely this is our God;^q

we trusted^r in him, and he saved^s us.

This is the Lord, we trusted in him;

let us rejoice^t and be glad in his salvation.”^u

¹⁰The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain;^v

but Moab^w will be trampled in their land

as straw is trampled down in the manure.

¹¹They will stretch out their hands in it,

as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim.

God will bring down^x their pride^y

despite the cleverness^a of their hands.

¹²He will bring down your high fortified walls^z

and lay them low;^a

he will bring them down to the ground,

to the very dust.

A Song of Praise

26In that day^b this song will be sung^c in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city;^d

God makes salvation

its walls^e and ramparts.^f

²Open the gates^g

that the righteous^h nation may enter,

the nation that keeps faith.

³You will keep in perfect peaceⁱ

those whose minds are steadfast,

because they trust^j in you.

⁴Trust^k in the Lord forever,^l

for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock^m eternal.

⁵He humbles those who dwell on high,

he lays the lofty city low;

he levels it to the groundⁿ

and casts it down to the dust.^o

⁶Feet trample^p it down—

the feet of the oppressed,^q

the footsteps of the poor.^r

⁷The path of the righteous is level;^s

you, the Upright One,^t make the way of the righteous smooth.^u

⁸Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,^av

we wait^w for you;

your name^x and renown

are the desire of our hearts.

⁹My soul yearns for you in the night;^y

in the morning my spirit longs^z for you.

When your judgments^a come upon the earth,

the people of the world learn righteousness.^b

¹⁰But when grace is shown to the wicked,^c

they do not learn righteousness;

even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil^d

and do not regard^e the majesty of the Lord.

¹¹Lord, your hand is lifted high,^f

but they do not see^g it.

Let them see your zeal^h for your people and be put to shame;ⁱ

let the fire^j reserved for your enemies consume them.

¹²Lord, you establish peace^k for us;

all that we have accomplished you have done^l for us.

¹³Lord our God, other lords^m besides you have ruled over us,

but your nameⁿ alone do we honor.^o

¹⁴They are now dead,^p they live no more;

their spirits^q do not rise.

You punished them and brought them to ruin;^r

you wiped out all memory of them.^s

¹⁵You have enlarged the nation, Lord;

you have enlarged the nation.^t

You have gained glory for yourself;

you have extended all the borders^u of the land.

¹⁶Lord, they came to you in their distress;^v

when you disciplined^w them,

they could barely whisper^x a prayer.^b

¹⁷As a pregnant woman about to give birth^y

writhes and cries out in her pain,

so were we in your presence, Lord.

¹⁸We were with child, we writhed in labor,

but we gave birth^z to wind.

We have not brought salvation^a to the earth,

and the people of the world have not come to life.^b

¹⁹But your dead^c will live, Lord;

their bodies will rise—

let those who dwell in the dust^d

wake up and shout for joy—

your dew^e is like the dew of the morning;

the earth will give birth to her dead.^f

²⁰Go, my people, enter your rooms

and shut the doors^g behind you;

hide^h yourselves for a little while

until his wrathⁱ has passed by.^j

²¹See, the Lord is coming^k out of his dwelling^l

to punish^m the people of the earth for their sins.

The earth will disclose the bloodⁿ shed on it;

the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

Deliverance of Israel

27In that day,^o

the Lord will punish with his sword^p—

his fierce, great and powerful sword—

Leviathan^q the gliding serpent,^r

Leviathan the coiling serpent;

he will slay the monster^s of the sea.

²In that day^t—

“Sing^u about a fruitful vineyard:^v

³I, the Lord, watch over it;

I water^w it continually.

I guard^x it day and night

so that no one may harm^y it.

⁴I am not angry.

If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!

I would march against them in battle;

I would set them all on fire.^z

⁵Or else let them come to me for refuge;^a

let them make peace^b with me,

yes, let them make peace with me.”

⁶In days to come Jacob will take root,^c

Israel will bud and blossom^d

and fill all the world with fruit.^e

⁷Has the Lord struck her

as he struck^f down those who struck her?

Has she been killed

as those were killed who killed her?

⁸By warfare^a and exile^g you contend with her—

with his fierce blast he drives her out,

as on a day the east wind^h blows.

⁹By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atonedⁱ for,

and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:^j

When he makes all the altar stones^k

to be like limestone crushed to pieces,

no Asherah poles^bl or incense altars^m

will be left standing.

¹⁰The fortified city stands desolate,ⁿ

an abandoned settlement, forsaken^o like the wilderness;

there the calves graze,^p

there they lie down;^q

they strip its branches bare.

¹¹When its twigs are dry, they are broken off^r

and women come and make fires^s with them.

For this is a people without understanding;^t

so their Maker has no compassion on them,

and their Creator^u shows them no favor.^v

¹²In that day the Lord will thresh^w from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,^x and you, Israel, will be gathered^y up one by one. ¹³And in that day^z a great trumpet^a will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled^b in Egypt^c will come and worship^d the Lord on the holy mountain^e in Jerusalem.