Isaiah 24:1-9 ▼

1 Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—

2 people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.

3 The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered. For the LORD has spoken this word.

4 The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.

5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore 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.

7 The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan.

8 The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent.

9 They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.