Isaiah 24

1 Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—

2 people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.

3 The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered. For the LORD has spoken this word.

4 The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.

5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.

7 The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan.

8 The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent.

9 They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.

10 The city of chaos is shattered; every house is closed to entry.

11 In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.

12 The city is left in ruins; its gate is reduced to rubble.

13 So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.

14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they proclaim the majesty of the LORD.

15 Therefore glorify the LORD in the east. Extol the name of the LORD, the God of Israel in the islands of the sea.

16 From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal in treachery.

17 Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.

18 Whoever flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.

19 The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently.

20 The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.

21 In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and the kings of the earth below.

22 They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon and punished after many days.

23 The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.

1 ¶ Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.

4 The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.

8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

10 The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

11 [There is] a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.

12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

13 ¶ When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, [there shall be] as the shaking of an olive tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.

14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.

15 Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, [even] the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.

16 ¶ From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, [even] glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, [are] upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

18 And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.

19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.

20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones [that are] on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

22 And they shall be gathered together, [as] prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

1 Behold, the LORD maketh the land empty and desolate, and overthroweth that which is therein, and scattereth the inhabitants thereof.

2 And go ye to the priest as well as to the people, to the lord as well as to the servant, to the woman as well as to the maid, to the seller as well as to the buyer, to the borrower as well as to the borrower, to the admonisher as well as to the debtor.

3 For the land shall be empty and despoiled: for the LORD hath spoken these things.

4 The land is desolate and corrupt, the ground is wasted and corrupt; the chief of the people of the land are wasted.

5 The land is polluted of her inhabitants: for they have transgressed the law, and changed the commandments, and forsaken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore the curse devoureth the land: for they that dwell therein are in debt. Therefore the inhabitants of the land wither, and few remain.

7 The must is gone, the vine languisheth, and all that were glad of heart groan.

8 The joy of the timbrel celebrates, the rejoicing of the joyful is ended, and the joy of the harps is ended.

9 Sing not while drinking wine: and good drink is bitter to them that drink it.

10 The empty city is broken up; all the houses are shut up, that no man may enter in.

11 They lament wine in the streets, that all joy is gone, all the delight of the land is gone.

12 Vain desolation is left in the city, and the gates stand desolate.

13 For there is a prayer in the land and among the people, as when an olive tree is plucked up, as when the vintage is over.

14 These lift up their voice, and shout, and shout from the sea, for the glory of the LORD:

15 Now therefore praise ye the LORD in the foundations, in the isles of the sea, the name of the LORD God of Israel.

16 We hear songs of praise from the end of the earth in honor of the righteous. And I must say: How thin I am! How thin I am! Woe is me; for the despisers despise, even the despisers despise.

17 Therefore terror, pit, and stroke, come upon you, ye inhabitants of the land.

18 Though a man escape from the cry of the terror, yet shall he fall into the pit; though he come out of the pit, yet shall he be taken in a snare. For the windows of the high places are opened, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.

19 The land shall be evil, and shall not prosper, and shall fall away.

20 The land shall stagger like a drunken man, and be carried away like a hovel: for her iniquity oppresseth her, that she must fall, and cannot stand.

21 In that day shall the LORD visit the high knights that are in high places, and the kings of the earth that are on the earth,

22 That they should be gathered into a bundle to the pit, and be shut up in the dungeon, and after a long time be visited again.

23 And the moon shall be ashamed, and the sun shall be ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall be king in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients in glory.