Isaiah 24:1-9 ▼

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.