Chapter 24

Judgment on the Earth

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

2 And 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.

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

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

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

6 Therefore, 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.

7 The anew wine mourns,

The vine decays,

All the merry-hearted sigh.

8 The agaiety of tambourines ceases,

The noise of revelers stops,

The gaiety of the harp ceases.

9 They do not drink wine with song;

aStrong drink is bbitter to those who drink it.

10 The acity of chaos is broken down;

bEvery house is shut up so that none may enter.

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

bAll joy 1turns to gloom.

The gaiety of the earth is banished.

12 Desolation is left in the city

And the agate is battered to ruins.

13 For 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.

14 aThey raise their voices, they shout for joy;

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

15 Therefore aglorify the Lord in the 1east,

The bname of the Lord, the God of Israel,

In the 2ccoastlands of the sea.

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

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

The dtreacherous deal treacherously,

And the treacherous deal very treacherously.”

17 aTerror and pit and snare

1Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.

18 Then 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.

19 aThe earth is broken asunder,

The earth is bsplit through,

The earth is shaken violently.

20 The 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.

21 So 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.

22 They will be gathered together

Like aprisoners in the 1dungeon,

And will be confined in prison;

And after many days they will bbe punished.

23 Then 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.