Isaiah 24:1-18 ▼

1 Behold, YHWH is emptying the earth, || And is making it desolate, || And has overturned [it on] its face, || And has scattered its inhabitants.

2 And it has been—as a people so a priest, || As the servant so his master, || As the maidservant so her mistress, || As the buyer so the seller, || As the lender so the borrower, || As the usurer so he who is lifting [it] on himself.

3 The earth is utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, || For YHWH has spoken this word:

4 The earth has mourned, faded, || The world has languished, faded, || They have languished—the high place of the people of the earth.

5 And the earth has been defiled under its inhabitants, || Because they have transgressed laws, || They have changed a statute, || They have made void a perpetual covenant.

6 Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, || And the inhabitants in it become desolate, || Therefore inhabitants of the earth have been consumed, || And few men have been left.

7 The new wine has mourned, the vine languished, || All the joyful of heart have sighed.

8 The joy of tambourines has ceased, || The noise of exulting ones has ceased, || The joy of a harp has ceased.

9 They do not drink wine with a song, || Strong drink is bitter to those drinking it.

10 It was broken down—a city of emptiness, || Every house has been shut from [its] entrance.

11 In out-places [is] a cry over the wine, || All joy has been darkened, || The joy of the land has been removed.

12 Desolation [is] left in the city, || And the gate is struck [with] ruin.

13 When thus it is in the heart of the land, || In the midst of the peoples, || As the surrounding of the olive, || As gleanings when harvest has been finished,

14 They lift up their voice, || They sing of the excellence of YHWH, || They have cried aloud from the sea.

15 Therefore honor YHWH in prosperity, || In islands of the sea, the Name of YHWH, God of Israel.

16 From the skirt of the earth we heard songs, || The desire of the righteous. And I say, “Leanness [is] to me, || Leanness [is] to me, woe [is] to me.” Treacherous dealers dealt treacherously, || Indeed, treachery, treacherous dealers dealt treacherously.

17 Fear, and a snare, and a trap, || [Are] on you, O inhabitant of the earth.

18 And it has come to pass, || He who is fleeing from the noise of the fear falls into the snare, || And he who is coming up from the midst of the snare, || Is captured by the trap, || For windows have been opened on high, || And foundations of the earth are shaken.