Isaiah 24:1-9 ▼

1 Lo, Jehovah is emptying the land, And is making it waste, And hath overturned it on its face, And hath scattered its inhabitants.

2 And it hath been -- as a people so a priest, As the servant so his master, As the maid-servant 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 Utterly emptied is the land, and utterly spoiled, For Jehovah hath spoken this word:

4 Mourned, faded hath the land, Languished, faded hath the world, Languished have they -- the high place of the people of the land.

5 And the land hath been defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed laws, They have changed a statute, They have made void a covenant age-during.

6 Therefore a curse hath consumed the land, And the inhabitants in it are become desolate, Therefore consumed have been inhabitants of the land, And few men have been left.

7 Mourned hath the new wine, languished the vine, Sighed have all the joyful of heart.

8 Ceased hath the joy of tabrets, Ceased hath the noise of exulting ones, Ceased hath the joy of a harp.

9 With a song they drink not wine, Bitter is strong drink to those drinking it.