Isaiah 24

Impending Judgment on the Earth

²⁴Now the Lord is about to lay waste the earth and make it desolate,

and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.^*

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

as with the male slave, so with his master;

as with the female slave, so with her mistress;

as with the buyer, so with the seller;

as with the lender, so with the borrower;

as with the creditor, so with the debtor.^*

³The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled,

for the Lord has spoken this word.^*

⁴The earth dries up and withers;

the world languishes and withers;

the heavens languish together with the earth.

⁵The earth lies polluted

under its inhabitants,

for they have transgressed laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant.^*

⁶Therefore a curse devours the earth,

and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;

therefore the inhabitants of the earth dwindled,

and few people are left.^*

⁷The wine dries up;

the vine languishes;

all the merry-hearted sigh.^*

⁸The mirth of the timbrels is stilled;

the noise of the jubilant has ceased;

the mirth of the lyre is stilled.^*

⁹No longer do they drink wine with singing;

strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰The city of chaos is broken down;

every house is shut up so that no one can enter.^*

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

all joy has reached its eventide;

the gladness of the earth is banished.^*

¹²Desolation is left in the city;

the gates are battered into ruins.

¹³For thus it shall be on the earth

and among the nations,

as when an olive tree is beaten,

as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is ended.^*

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

they shout from the west over the majesty of the Lord.^*

¹⁵Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;

in the coastlands of the sea glorify the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.^*

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

of glory to the Righteous One.

But I say, “I pine away;

I pine away. Woe is me!

For the treacherous deal treacherously;

the treacherous deal very treacherously.”^*

¹⁷Terror, the pit, and the snare

are upon you, O inhabitants of the earth!^*

¹⁸Whoever flees at the sound of the terror

shall fall into the pit,

and whoever climbs out of the pit

shall be caught in the snare.

For the windows of heaven are opened,

and the foundations of the earth tremble.^*

¹⁹The earth is utterly broken;

the earth is torn apart;

the earth is violently shaken.^*

²⁰The earth staggers like a drunkard;

it sways like a hut;

its transgression lies heavy upon it,

and it falls and will not rise again.^*

²¹On that day the Lord will punish

the host of heaven in heaven

and on earth the kings of the earth.^*

²²They will be gathered together

like prisoners in a pit;

they will be shut up in a prison,

and after many days they will be punished.^*

²³Then the moon will be abashed

and the sun ashamed,

for the Lord of hosts will reign

on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

and before his elders he will be glorified.^*