1The LORD is going to completely destroy everything on earth. He will twist its surface. He’ll scatter those who live on it.2Priests and people alike will suffer. So will masters and their servants. And so will women and their female servants. Sellers and buyers alike will suffer. So will those who borrow and those who lend. And so will those who owe money and those who lend it.3The earth will be completely destroyed. Everything of value will be taken out of it. That’s what the LORD has said.4The earth will dry up completely. The world will dry up and waste away. The heavens will fade away along with the earth.5The earth is polluted by its people. They haven’t obeyed the laws of the LORD. They haven’t done what he told them to do. They’ve broken the covenant that will last for ever.6So the LORD will send a curse on the earth. Its people will pay for what they’ve done. They will be burned up. Very few of them will be left.7The vines and fresh wine will dry up completely. Those who used to have a good time will groan.8The happy sounds of tambourines will be gone. The noise of those who enjoy wild parties will stop. The joyful music of harps will become silent.9People will no longer sing as they drink wine. Beer will taste bitter to those who drink it.10Destroyed cities will lie empty. People will lock themselves inside their houses.11In the streets people will cry out for wine. All joy will turn into sadness. All joyful sounds will be driven out of the earth.12All the buildings will be knocked down. Every city gate will be smashed to pieces.13That’s how it will be on the earth. And that’s how it will be among the nations. It will be as when workers knock all but a few olives off the trees. It will be like a vine that has only a few grapes left after the harvest.14Those who are left alive will shout for joy. People from the west will praise the LORD because he is the King.15So give glory to him, you who live in the east. Honour the name of the LORD, you who are in the islands of the sea. He is the God of Israel.16From one end of the earth to the other we hear singing. People are saying, ‘Give glory to the God who always does what is right.’ But I said, ‘I feel very bad. I’m getting weaker and weaker. How terrible it is for me! People turn against one another. They can’t be trusted. So they turn against one another.’17Listen, you people of the earth. Terror, a pit and a trap are waiting for you.18Anyone who runs away from the terror will fall into the pit. Anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap. The LORD will open the windows of the skies. He will flood the land. The foundations of the earth will shake.19The earth will be broken up. It will split open. It will be shaken to pieces.20The earth will be unsteady like someone who is drunk. It will sway like a tent in the wind. Its sin will weigh so heavily on it that it will fall. It will never get up again.21At that time the LORD will punish the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens above. He will also punish the kings on the earth below.22They will be brought together like prisoners in chains. They’ll be locked up in prison. After many days the LORD will punish them.23The LORD who rules over all will rule on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The elders of the city will be there. They will see his great glory. His rule will be so glorious that the sun and moon will be too ashamed to shine.
Isaiah 24
English Standard Version
Judgment on the Whole Earth
1Behold, the Lord will empty the earth[1] and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. (Isa 13:9)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. (Isa 3:1; Jer 15:10; La 4:16; Eze 7:12; Ho 4:9)3The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the Lord has spoken this word. (Isa 1:20; Isa 24:1; Isa 24:6)4The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the highest people of the earth languish. (Isa 16:8; Ho 4:3)5The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. (Nu 35:33; Isa 2:6; Isa 2:8)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. (Ps 5:10; Zec 5:3)7The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. (Joe 1:10; Joe 1:12)8The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled. (Jer 7:34; Ho 2:11; Am 8:10)9No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. (Am 6:5)10The wasted city is broken down; every house is shut up so that none can enter. (Isa 23:1; Isa 34:11)11There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished. (Ps 144:14; Isa 24:7; Joe 1:5; Joe 1:12)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. (Isa 17:6; Mic 7:1)14They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.[2]15Therefore in the east[3] give glory to the Lord; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. (Isa 45:6)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.” (Isa 21:2; Isa 24:14; Isa 26:2; Isa 33:1; Isa 60:21)17Terror and the pit and the snare[4] are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! (Job 20:24; Jer 48:43; Am 5:19)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. (Ge 7:11; Ps 18:7; Isa 24:17)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. (Isa 19:14; Isa 24:5; Isa 29:9)21On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. (Ps 76:12; Isa 10:12; Isa 31:8)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. (Isa 29:6; Mic 4:11)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. (Ps 99:1; Isa 13:10; Mic 4:7)