Isaiah 24

¹Behold , the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate , and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants .

²And it shall be, as with the people , so with the priest ; as with the slave , 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 creditor , so with the debtor .

³The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered ; for the Lord has spoken this word .

⁴The earth mourns and withers ; the world languishes and withers ; the highest people of the earth languish .

⁵The earth defiled under its inhabitants ; for they have transgressed the laws , violated the statutes , broken the everlasting covenant .

⁶Therefore a curse devours the earth , and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt ; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched , and few men are left .

⁷The wine mourns , the vine languishes , all the merry-hearted sigh .

⁸The mirth of the tambourines is stilled , the noise of the jubilant has ceased , the mirth of the lyre is stilled .

⁹No more do they drink wine with singing ; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰The wasted city is broken down ; every house is shut up so that none can enter .

¹¹There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine ; all joy has grown dark ; the gladness of the earth is banished .

¹²Desolation is left in the city ; the gates are battered into ruins .

¹³For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth among the nations , as when an olive tree is beaten , as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done .

¹⁴They lift up their voices , they sing for joy ; over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west .

¹⁵Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord; in the coastlands of the sea , give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel .

¹⁶From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise , of glory to the Righteous One . But I say , I waste away , I waste away . Woe is me! For the traitors have betrayed , with betrayal the traitors have betrayed .

¹⁷Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth !

¹⁸He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit , and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare . For the windows of heaven are opened , and the foundations of the earth tremble .

¹⁹The earth is utterly broken , the earth is split apart , the earth is violently shaken .

²⁰The earth staggers like a drunken man ; it sways like a hut ; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls , and will not rise again .

²¹On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven , in heaven , and the kings of the earth , on the earth .

²²They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit ; they will be shut up in a prison , and after many days they will be punished .

²³Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed , for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem , and his glory will be before his elders .