Isaiah24
World English Bible · Public Domain
1Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants.
2It will be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest.
3The earth will be utterly emptied and utterly laid waste; for Yahweh has spoken this word.
4The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish.
5The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.
6Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
7The new wine mourns. The vine languishes. All the merry-hearted sigh.
8The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends. The joy of the harp ceases.
9They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it.
10The confused city is broken down. Every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
11There is a crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is darkened. The mirth of the land is gone.
12The city is left in desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction.
13For it will be so within the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.
14These shall lift up their voice. They will shout for the majesty of Yahweh. They cry aloud from the sea.
15Therefore glorify Yahweh in the east, even the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea!
16From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs. Glory to the righteous! But I said, “I pine away! I pine away! woe is me!” The treacherous have dealt treacherously. Yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.
17Fear, the pit, and the snare are on you who inhabit the earth.
18It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the middle of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
19The earth is utterly broken. The earth is torn apart. The earth is shaken violently.
20The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again.
21It will happen in that day that Yahweh will punish the army of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth.
22They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; and after many days they will be visited.
23Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Armies will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem; and glory will be before his elders.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Isaiah 24.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The desolation of the land. (1-12). A few shall be preserved. (13-15). God's kingdom advanced by his judgments. (16-23).
vv1-12
All whose treasures and happiness are laid up on earth, will soon be brought to want and misery. It is good to apply to ourselves what the Scripture says of the vanity and vexation of spirit which attend all things here below. Sin has turned the earth upside down; the earth is become quite different to man, from what it was when God first made it to be his habitation. It is, at the best, like a flower, which withers in the hands of those that please themselves with it, and lay it in their bosoms. The world we live in is a world of disappointment, a vale of tears; the children of men in it are but of few days, and full of trouble, See the power of God's curse, how it makes all empty, and lays waste all ranks and conditions. Sin brings these calamities upon the earth; it is polluted by the sins of men, therefore it is made desolate by God's judgments. Carnal joy will soon be at end, and the end of it is heaviness. God has many ways to imbitter wine and strong drink to those who love them; distemper of body, anguish of mind, and the ruin of the estate, will make strong drink bitter, and the delights of sense tasteless. Let men learn to mourn for sin, and rejoice in God; then no man, no event, can take their joy from them.
vv13-15
There shall be a remnant preserved from the general ruin, and it shall be a devout and pious remnant. These few are dispersed; like the gleanings of the olive tree, hid under the leaves. The Lord knows those that are his; the world does not. When the mirth of carnal worldlings ceases, the joy of the saints is as lively as ever, because the covenant of grace, the fountain of their comforts, and the foundation of their hopes, never fails. Those who rejoice in the Lord can rejoice in tribulation, and by faith may triumph when all about them are in tears. They encourage their fellow-sufferers to do likewise, even those who are in the furnace of affliction. Or, in the valleys, low, dark, miry places. In every fire, even the hottest, in every place, even the remotest, let us keep up our good thoughts of God. If none of these trials move us, then we glorify the Lord in the fires.
vv16-23
Believers may be driven into the uttermost parts of the earth; but they are singing, not sighing. Here is terror to sinners; the prophet laments the miseries he saw breaking in like a torrent; and the small number of believers. He foresees that sin would abound. The meaning is plain, that evil pursues sinners. Unsteady, uncertain are all these things. Worldly men think to dwell in the earth as in a palace, as in a castle; but it shall be removed like a cottage, like a lodge put up for the night. It shall fall and not rise again; but there shall be new heavens and a new earth, in which shall dwell nothing but righteousness. Sin is a burden to the whole creation; it is a heavy burden, under which it groans now, and will sink at last. The high ones, that are puffed up with their grandeur, that think themselves out of the reach of danger, God will visit for their pride and cruelty. Let us judge nothing before the time, though some shall be visited. None in this world should be secure, though their condition be ever so prosperous; nor need any despair, though their condition be ever so deplorable. God will be glorified in all this. But the mystery of Providence is not yet finished. The ruin of the Redeemer's enemies must make way for his kingdom, and then the Sun of Righteousness will appear in full glory. Happy are those who take warning by the sentence against others; every impenitent sinner will sink under his transgression, and rise no more, while believers enjoy everlasting bliss.
Key Words
הִנֵּה: lo!
בָּקַק: to pour out, i.e. to empty, figuratively, to depopulate; by analogy, to spread out (as a fruitful vine)
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
בָּלַק: to annihilate
עָוָה: to crook, literally or figuratively
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
פּוּץ: to dash in pieces, literally or figuratively (especially to disperse)
יָשַׁב: properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry
עַם: a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
כֹּהֵן: literally one officiating, a priest; also (by courtesy) an acting priest (although a layman)
Cross References
Isaiah 24Jeremiah uses the exact same proverbial sequence: 'Fear, and the pit, and the snare.'
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Ezekiel similarly describes universal societal dissolution where buyer and seller share the same fate.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Poole links this to the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 that devour the land.
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The phrase 'windows from on high are open' directly echoes the language of Noah's flood.
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The land is defiled/polluted by the blood of its inhabitants, drawing from the Torah's warning.
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John in Revelation echoes Isaiah's language concerning the cessation of harp, flute, and voice.
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Employs the identical agricultural metaphor of remnant shaking of an olive tree.
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Praising the name of the Lord from the rising of the sun to the west.
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Amos shares the proverbial idea of escaping one danger only to fall into another.
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Parallel usage where 'world' refers to a specific proud kingdom, like Babylon.
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The moral defilement of the land causing it to vomit out its inhabitants.
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Joel matches Isaiah's description of mourning new wine and languishing vines.
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Isaiah elsewhere condemns those seeking strong drink, which here turns bitter to them.
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Glorifying God 'in the fires' of affliction and trial to test faith.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Jeremiah's cosmic vision of the earth broken down, dissolved, and ruined by judgment.
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Universal judgment showing no distinction of class, from kings to bondmen.
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Demonstrates how 'world' (oikoumene) is used synecdochically for a specific region.
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Refers to the 'everlasting covenant' established with Abraham and his descendants.
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The cessation of mirth, tabrets, and the voice of gladness in judgment.
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A highly similar call to the drunkards to weep because the wine is cut off.
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Refining a remnant through the fire so they will call on His name.
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The ultimate reign of the Lord God Omnipotent on His glorious throne.
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Poetic description of bones and skin burned internally with dry heat.
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The house of Israel and Judah dealing very treacherously against the Lord.
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