Isaiah 24

1Behold, Jehovah maketh the land empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad its inhabitants.

2And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, 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 taker of usury, so with him from whom usury is taken.

3The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for Jehovah hath spoken this word.

4The land mourneth, it fadeth away; the world languisheth, it fadeth away: the haughty people of the land do languish.

5And the land is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; for they have violated the laws, changed the statute, broken the everlasting covenant.

6Therefore doth the curse devour the earth, and they that dwell therein are held guilty; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are consumed, and few men are left.

7The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all that were merry-hearted do sigh;

8the mirth of tambours ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

9They do not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to them that drink it.

10The city of solitude is broken down; every house is shut up, so that none entereth in.

11There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone;

12desolation remaineth in the city, and the gate is smitten, — a ruin.

13For so will it be in the midst of the land among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive-tree, as the grape-gleanings when the vintage is done.

14These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout for the majesty of Jehovah, they shall cry aloud from the sea.

15Therefore glorify Jehovah in the east, the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the isles of the west.

16From the end of the earth have we heard songs: Glory to the righteous! And I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! The treacherous have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.

17Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, inhabitant of the land.

18And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the sound of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are open, and the foundations of the earth shake.

19The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is completely dissolved, the earth is violently moved.

20The earth reeleth to and fro like a drunkard, and is shaken like a night hut; and its transgression is heavy upon it; and it falleth and shall not rise again.

21And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] Jehovah will punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

22And they shall be brought together, [as] an assemblage of prisoners for the pit, and shall be shut up in prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

23And the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts shall reign on mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients in glory.