Isaiah 24 New American Standard Bible

Judgment on the Earth

24 Behold, the Lord ^(A)lays the earth waste, devastates it, twists its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. ²And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the female servant like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the ^(B)creditor like the debtor. ³The earth will be completely laid waste and completely plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. ⁴The ^(C)earth dries up and crumbles away, the mainland dries out and crumbles away, the ^(D)exalted of the people of the earth dwindle. ⁵The earth is also ^(E)defiled ^[a]by its inhabitants, for they violated laws, altered statutes, and ^(F)broke the everlasting covenant. ⁶Therefore, a ^(G)curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer for their guilt. Therefore, the ^(H)inhabitants of the earth decrease in number, and few people are left.

⁷The ^(I)new wine mourns,
The vine decays,
All the joyful-hearted sigh.
⁸The ^(J)joy of tambourines ceases,
The noise of revelers stops,
The joy of the harp ceases.
⁹They do not drink wine with song;
^(K)Intoxicating drink is ^(L)bitter to those who drink it.
¹⁰The ^(M)city of chaos is broken down;
^(N)Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
¹¹There is an ^(O)outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
^(P)All joy ^[b]turns to gloom.
The joy of the earth is banished.
¹²Desolation is left in the city
And the ^(Q)gate is battered to ruins.
¹³For ^(R)so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,
As the ^[c]shaking of an olive tree,
As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over.
¹⁴^(S)They raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They cry out from the ^[d]west concerning the majesty of the Lord.
¹⁵Therefore ^(T)glorify the Lord in the ^[e]east,
The ^(U)name of the Lord, the God of Israel,
In the ^[f]^(V)coastlands of the sea.
¹⁶From the ^(W)ends of the earth we hear songs: “^(X)Glory to the Righteous One,”
But I say, “^[g]I am finished! I am finished! Woe to me!
The ^(Y)treacherous deal treacherously,
And the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
¹⁷^(Z)Terror and pit and snare
^[h]Confront you, you inhabitant of the earth.
¹⁸Then it will be that the one who flees the sound of terror will fall into the pit,
And the one who ^[i]climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare;
For the ^(AA)windows ^[j]above are opened, and the ^(AB)foundations of the earth shake.
¹⁹^(AC)The earth is broken apart,
The earth is ^(AD)split through,
The earth is shaken violently.
²⁰The earth ^(AE)trembles like a heavy drinker
And sways like a hut,
For its ^(AF)wrongdoing is heavy upon it,
And it will fall, ^(AG)never to rise again.
²¹So it will happen on that day,
That the Lord will ^(AH)punish the rebellious ^[k]^(AI)angels of ^[l]heaven on high,
And the ^(AJ)kings of the earth on earth.
²²They will be gathered together
Like ^(AK)prisoners in the ^[m]dungeon,
And will be confined in prison;
And after many days they will ^(AL)be punished.
²³Then the ^(AM)moon will be ashamed and the sun be put to shame,
For the ^(AN)Lord of armies will reign on ^(AO)Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory will be before His elders.