The Earth Judged

24 Look, the Lord is stripping the earth bare
and making it desolate.
He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants:
people and priest alike,
servant and master,
female servant and mistress,
buyer and seller,
lender and borrower,
creditor and debtor.
The earth will be stripped completely bare
and will be totally plundered,
for the Lord has spoken this message.(A)
The earth mourns and withers;
the world wastes away and withers;
the exalted people of the earth waste away.
The earth is polluted by its inhabitants,(B)
for they have transgressed teachings,
overstepped decrees,
and broken the permanent covenant.(C)
Therefore a curse has consumed the earth,(D)
and its inhabitants have become guilty;
the earth’s inhabitants have been burned,
and only a few survive.
The new wine mourns;(E)
the vine withers.
All the carousers now groan.
The joyful tambourines(F) have ceased.
The noise of the jubilant has stopped.
The joyful lyre has ceased.
They no longer sing and drink wine;
beer is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of chaos is shattered;(G)
every house is closed to entry.(H)
11 In the streets they cry[a] for wine.
All joy grows dark;
earth’s rejoicing goes into exile.
12 Only desolation remains in the city;
its gate has collapsed in ruins.
13 For this is how it will be on earth
among the nations:
like a harvested olive tree,
like a gleaning after a grape harvest.(I)
14 They raise their voices, they sing out;
they proclaim in the west
the majesty of the Lord.
15 Therefore, in the east honor the Lord!
In the coasts and islands of the west
honor the name of the Lord,
the God of Israel.
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs:
The Splendor of the Righteous One.(J)
But I said, “I waste away! I waste away![b]
Woe is me.”
The treacherous act treacherously;
the treacherous deal very treacherously.(K)

17 Panic, pit, and trap await you(L)
who dwell on the earth.(M)
18 Whoever flees at the sound of panic
will fall into a pit,
and whoever escapes from the pit
will be caught in a trap.
For the floodgates on high are opened,(N)
and the foundations of the earth are shaken.(O)
19 The earth is completely devastated;
the earth is split open;
the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth staggers like a drunkard(P)
and sways like a hut.
Earth’s rebellion weighs it down,
and it falls, never to rise again.

21 On that day(Q) the Lord will punish
the army of the heights in the heights
and the kings of the ground on the ground.
22 They will be gathered together
like prisoners in a pit.(R)
They will be confined to a dungeon;(S)
after many days they will be punished.
23 The moon will be put to shame
and the sun disgraced,
because the Lord of Armies will reign as king
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
and he will display his glory
in the presence of his elders.(T)

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Footnotes

  1. 24:11 Lit streets she cries
  2. 24:16 Hb obscure

Judgment on the Earth

24 Behold, the Lord (A)lays the earth waste, devastates it, twists its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. And 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. The earth will be completely laid waste and completely plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. The (C)earth dries up and crumbles away, the mainland dries out and crumbles away, the (D)exalted of the people of the earth dwindle. The earth is also (E)defiled [a]by its inhabitants, for they violated laws, altered statutes, and (F)broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, 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.

The (I)new wine mourns,
The vine decays,
All the joyful-hearted sigh.
The (J)joy of tambourines ceases,
The noise of revelers stops,
The joy of the harp ceases.
They do not drink wine with song;
(K)Intoxicating drink is (L)bitter to those who drink it.
10 The (M)city of chaos is broken down;
(N)Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
11 There is an (O)outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
(P)All joy [b]turns to gloom.
The joy of the earth is banished.
12 Desolation is left in the city
And the (Q)gate is battered to ruins.
13 For (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.
15 Therefore (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.
16 From 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.
18 Then 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.
20 The 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.
21 So 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.
22 They 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.
23 Then 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 24:5 Lit under
  2. Isaiah 24:11 Lit is darkened
  3. Isaiah 24:13 Lit striking
  4. Isaiah 24:14 Lit sea
  5. Isaiah 24:15 Lit region of light
  6. Isaiah 24:15 Or islands
  7. Isaiah 24:16 Meaning uncertain
  8. Isaiah 24:17 Lit Are upon you
  9. Isaiah 24:18 Lit goes up from the midst of
  10. Isaiah 24:18 Lit from the height; i.e., heaven
  11. Isaiah 24:21 Lit host
  12. Isaiah 24:21 Lit the height in the height
  13. Isaiah 24:22 Lit pit