Isaiah 24

₁Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate,

and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

₂And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;

as with the slave, 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 creditor, so with the debtor.

₃The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;

for the Lord has spoken this word.

₄The earth mourns and withers;

the world languishes and withers;

the highest people of the earth languish.

₅The earth lies defiled

under its inhabitants;

for they have transgressed the laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant.

₆Therefore a curse devours the earth,

and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;

therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,

and few men are left.

₇The wine mourns,

the vine languishes,

all the merry-hearted sigh.

₈The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,

the noise of the jubilant has ceased,

the mirth of the lyre is stilled.

₉No more do they drink wine with singing;

strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

₁₀The wasted city is broken down;

every house is shut up so that none can enter.

₁₁There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;

all joy has grown dark;

the gladness of the earth is banished.

₁₂Desolation is left in the city;

the gates are battered into ruins.

₁₃For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth

among the nations,

as when an olive tree is beaten,

as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

₁₄They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;

over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.

₁₅Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;

in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

₁₆From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,

of glory to the Righteous One.

But I say, “I waste away,

I waste away. Woe is me!

For the traitors have betrayed,

with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

₁₇Terror and the pit and the snare

are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!

₁₈He who flees at the sound of the terror

shall fall into the pit,

and he who climbs out of the pit

shall be caught in the snare.

For the windows of heaven are opened,

and the foundations of the earth tremble.

₁₉The earth is utterly broken,

the earth is split apart,

the earth is violently shaken.

₂₀The earth staggers like a drunken man;

it sways like a hut;

its transgression lies heavy upon it,

and it falls, and will not rise again.

₂₁On that day the Lord will punish

the host of heaven, in heaven,

and the kings of the earth, on the earth.

₂₂They will be gathered together

as prisoners in a pit;

they will be shut up in a prison,

and after many days they will be punished.

₂₃Then the moon will be confounded

and the sun ashamed,

for the Lord of hosts reigns

on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

and his glory will be before his elders.