Isaiah 24
Holman Christian Standard Bible
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:
2 people and priest alike,
servant and master,
female servant and mistress,
buyer and seller,
lender and borrower,
creditor and debtor.
3 The earth will be stripped completely bare
and will be totally plundered,
for the Lord has spoken this message.(A)
4 The earth mourns and withers;
the world wastes away and withers;
the exalted people of the earth waste away.
5 The earth is polluted by its inhabitants,(B)
for they have transgressed teachings,
overstepped decrees,
and broken the everlasting covenant.(C)
6 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.
7 The new wine mourns;(E)
the vine withers.
All the carousers now groan.
8 The joyful tambourines(F) have ceased.
The noise of the jubilant has stopped.
The joyful lyre has ceased.
9 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 islands of the west
honor the name of Yahweh,
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 windows are opened from heaven,(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 host of heaven above
and kings of the earth below.
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 Hosts will reign as king
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
and He will display His glory
in the presence of His elders.(T)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 24:11 Lit streets she cries
- Isaiah 24:16 Hb obscure
Isaiah 24
International Standard Version
The Earth is Judged
24 “Watch out! The Lord[a] is about to depopulate the land
and devastate it;
he will turn it upside down[b]
and scatter its inhabitants.
2 It will be the same for the lay people as for priests,
the same for servants as for their masters,
for female servants as for their mistresses,
for buyers as for sellers,
for lenders as for borrowers,
and for creditors as for debtors.
3 The earth will be utterly depopulated
and completely laid waste —
for the Lord has spoken this message.[c]
4 “The earth dries up and withers;
the world languishes and fades away;
heaven fades away,
along with the earth.[d]
5 The earth lies defiled
beneath its inhabitants;
because they have transgressed the laws,[e]
violated the statutes,
and broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore the curse keeps on consuming,[f]
and its inhabitants are declared guilty.
Furthermore, the inhabitants of earth are ablaze,
and few people are left.
7 The new wine evaporates;
the vine and the oil[g] dry up;
all the merrymakers groan.
8 “The celebrations of the tambourine have ended,
the noise of the jubilant has stopped,
and the mirth that the harp produces has ended.
9 No longer do they drink wine
accompanied by singing;
even beer[h] tastes bitter to those who drink it.
10 The chaotic city lies broken down;
every house is closed up
so that no one can enter them.[i]
11 There is an outcry in the streets over wine;
all cheer turns to gloom;
the fun times of the earth are banished.
12 Desolation remains in the city
whose gates lie battered into ruins.
13 So it will be on the earth
and among the nations—
as when an olive tree is beaten,
or as gleanings when the grape harvest has ended.”
Glorifying God
14 “They raise their voices;
they shout for joy;[j]
from the west[k] they shout aloud[l]
over the Lord’s majesty.
15 Therefore, you in the east,[m]
give glory to the Lord!
You in the coastlands of the sea,
give glory to the name of the Lord God of Israel!
16 From the ends of the earth
we hear songs of praise:
‘Glory to the Righteous One!’
“But I say, ‘I am pining away,
I’m pining away.
How terrible things are for me!
For treacherous people betray—
treacherous people are betraying with treachery!’”
The Universal Impact of Judgment
17 “Terror and pit and snare are coming in your direction,
you inhabitants of the earth!
18 Whoever flees at the sound of terror
will fall into a pit,
and whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare.
For the windows of judgment[n] from above are opened,
and the foundations of the earth are shaken.
19 The earth is utterly shattered,
the earth is split apart,
the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth[o] reels to and fro like a drunkard;
it sways like a hut;[p]
its transgression lies so heavy upon it,
that it falls, never to rise again.
21 “And it will come about at that time,[q]
the Lord will punish
the armies of the exalted ones in the heavens,[r]
and the rulers[s] of the earth on earth.
22 They[t] will be herded together[u]
into the Pit;[v]
they will be shut up in prison,
and after many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be embarrassed
and the sun ashamed,
for the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will reign
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem;
and in the presence of its elders
there will be glory.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 24:1 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsac reads Lord
- Isaiah 24:1 Or distort its surface
- Isaiah 24:3 Lit. word
- Isaiah 24:4 So 1QIsaa 4QIsac; MT reads the heavens fade away; cf. LXX reads the exalted ones of the earth mourn
- Isaiah 24:5 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsac LXX read the Law
- Isaiah 24:6 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsac MT LXX read consuming the earth
- Isaiah 24:7 So 4QIsac; 1QIsaa MT LXX lack and the oil
- Isaiah 24:9 Or and strong drink
- Isaiah 24:10 1QIsaa MT lack them
- Isaiah 24:14 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsac reads and they shout
- Isaiah 24:14 Lit. sea; so 1QIsaa MT; cf. LXX; 4QIsac reads day
- Isaiah 24:14 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsac reads And they cry out
- Isaiah 24:15 So 1QIsaa MT; 4Q1sac reads in the east, in Aram; LXX lacks in the east
- Isaiah 24:18 1QIsaa MT lack of judgment
- Isaiah 24:20 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read Earth
- Isaiah 24:20 So MT; 1QIsaa lacks like a hut
- Isaiah 24:21 Lit. about on that day
- Isaiah 24:21 Or ones on high
- Isaiah 24:21 Lit. kings
- Isaiah 24:22 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsac MT LXX read And they
- Isaiah 24:22 So 1QIsaa LXX; 4QIsac MT read together like prisoners
- Isaiah 24:22 I.e., the place of punishment in the afterlife; or into a dungeon;
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