Isaiah 24

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Literal

God’s Judgment on the Earth

¹Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth

and leaves it in ruins.

He will twist its surface

and scatter its inhabitants—

¹Behold, YHWH is emptying the earth, and is making it waste; and He has twisted its surface and has scattered its dwellers.

²people and priest alike, servant and master,

maid and mistress, buyer and seller,

lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.

²And it will be—as with the people so with the priest, as with the servant so with his master, as with the maidservant 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 lender of it.

³The earth will be utterly laid waste

and thoroughly plundered.

For the LORD has spoken this word.

³The earth will be utterly emptied and utterly plundered, for YHWH has spoken this word.

⁴The earth mourns and withers;

the world languishes and fades;

the exalted of the earth waste away.

⁴The earth has mourned and has faded away; the world has languished and has faded away; the haughty have languished people of the earth.

⁵The earth is defiled by its people;

they have transgressed the laws;

they have overstepped the decrees

and broken the everlasting covenant.

⁵And the earth is defiled under its dwellers, because they have transgressed the laws—they have passed ovr the decree, they have broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore 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.

⁶Upon thus a curse has consumed the earth, and those who dwell upon it are found guilty; thus those dwelling in the earth have been burned, and few men have been left.

⁷The new wine dries up, the vine withers.

All the merrymakers now groan.

⁷The new wine has failed, the vine has languished; all the joyful of heart have groaned.

⁸The joyful tambourines have ceased;

the noise of revelers has stopped;

the joyful harp is silent.

⁸The joy of the tambourines has ceased; the noise of the jubilant ones has ended; the joy of the harp has ceased.

⁹They no longer sing and drink wine;

strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.

⁹They will not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to those drinking it.

¹⁰The city of chaos is shattered;

every house is closed to entry.

¹⁰The city of confusion has been broken down; every house is closed up from entering.

¹¹In the streets they cry out for wine.

All joy turns to gloom;

rejoicing is exiled from the land.

¹¹A cry over the wine is in the streets; all joy is darkened; the rejoicing of the land has been removed.

¹²The city is left in ruins;

its gate is reduced to rubble.

¹²In the city a desolation has been left, and the gate is broken into a ruin.

¹³So will it be on the earth

and among the nations,

like a harvested olive tree,

like a gleaning after a grape harvest.

¹³For thus it shall be within the land in the midst of the nations, like the shaking of an olive tree, like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.

¹⁴They raise their voices, they shout for joy;

from the west^a they proclaim the majesty of the LORD.

¹⁴They will lift up their voice; they will sing of the majesty of YHWH—they have cried aloud from the sea.

¹⁵Therefore glorify the LORD in the east.

Extol the name of the LORD, the God of Israel

in the islands^a of the sea.

¹⁵Upon thus, glorify YHWH in the dawning light, the name of YHWH God of Israel in the islands of the sea.

¹⁶From 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.

¹⁶From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: “Glory to the Righteous One.” And I said, “Leanness is unto me! Leanness is unto me! Woe to me!” Treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, and with treachery treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously.

¹⁷Terror and pit and snare await you,

O dweller of the earth.

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

¹⁸Whoever 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.

¹⁸And it will come to pass that he who flees from the sound of terror will fall into the pit, and he who comes up from the midst of the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows on high have been opened, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.

¹⁹The earth is utterly broken apart,

the earth is split open,

the earth is shaken violently.

¹⁹The earth has been utterly broken apart; the earth has been utterly split open; the earth has been shaken violently.

²⁰The earth staggers like a drunkard

and sways like a shack.

Earth’s rebellion weighs it down,

and it falls, never to rise again.

²⁰The earth like a drunkard will stagger greatly, and it will totter like a hut; and transgression will be heavy upon it, and it will fall and never again rise.

²¹In that day the LORD will punish

the host of heaven above

and the kings of the earth below.

²¹And it will come to pass in that day, that YHWH will lay a charge upon the host of the high place in the high place and upon the kings of the earth on the earth.

²²They will be gathered together

like prisoners in a pit.

They will be confined to a dungeon

and punished after many days.

²²And they will be gathered together—a gathering of bound ones in the pit, and they will be shut up in the prison, and after a multitude of days they will be punished.

²³The 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.

²³The moon and will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed, for YHWH of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders is glory.