Isaiah 24
24
Chapter 24
The Lord will judge all people
1Understand this! The Lord is ready to destroy the earth. It will become a desert. He will spoil the ground. He will chase away all the people who live on it.
2It will be the same for all people:
priests as well as ordinary people,
masters as well as their servants,
rich ladies as well as their servant girls,
sellers as well as buyers,
people who lend money as well as those who borrow it,
rich people as well as poor people.
3The whole earth will become empty. Nothing will remain. The Lord has said that this punishment will certainly happen.
4The earth becomes dry and all the plants die. The whole world becomes weak and helpless. Its important people also become weak.
5The people who live on the earth have caused it to become unclean.
They have not obeyed God's laws.
They have turned against his teaching.
They have not obeyed the covenant that God made with them for ever.
6That is why a curse is destroying the land. The people who live on it are guilty and God is punishing them. They become fewer and fewer. Only a very few of them remain.
7There is no new wine and the vines are dying. The people who were happy to drink the wine are now sad. 8The happy sound of tambourines has stopped. The noise from parties has finished. The harps no longer make any happy music. 9People cannot drink wine, so they do not sing. When people drink beer, it seems bitter.
10The city has become so spoiled that it is useless. People have locked their houses so that nobody can go in. 11They shout in the streets because they have no wine. Nobody is happy any more, anywhere on the earth.
12The city has become a heap of stones. Its gates lie in pieces on the ground.
13This is what will happen among all the nations on the earth. Only a few people will remain, like a few olives that remain on a tree after the harvest. After people have picked the grapes off a vine, there are only a few that remain.
14Those people who are still alive sing aloud because they are happy. People who live in the west praise the Lord because he is great. 15So people who live in the east should praise the Lord too. People who live on the coast of the sea will also praise the name of the Lord, Israel's God. 16From every part of the earth, we hear songs. People sing to praise the Righteous One.
But I say, ‘I have become very weak and thin! It will be very bad for me! Evil people are turning against their friends. They deceive people more and more!’
17People everywhere on the earth, terror is ready to catch you! You will fall into a deep hole, and a trap will catch you! 18Anyone who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the deep hole. The trap will catch anyone who climbs out of the big hole. God has opened the windows of the sky. He has caused the foundations of the earth to shake.
19The earth has become broken into many pieces. It has torn apart. It is shaking powerfully. 20The earth is like a drunk man. It cannot walk in a straight line. It moves in all directions, like a tent in a storm. The people's sins are like a heavy weight on the earth. It cannot carry them and it will fall. It will never be able to get up again.
21At that time, the Lord will punish the powerful beings in the skies above. He will punish the kings who rule on the earth below. 22He will bring them together like prisoners in a deep hole. That will be their prison. They will be there for a time, and then he will come to punish them.
23The moon will hide its face in shame. The bright light of the sun will become dark. Yes, the Lord Almighty will become king on Mount Zion. He will rule with great power in Jerusalem. The leaders of the people will see his great glory.
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Isaiah 24
24
Destruction of the Earth
1Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth
and make it a vast wasteland.
He devastates the surface of the earth
and scatters the people.
2Priests and laypeople,
servants and masters,
maids and mistresses,
buyers and sellers,
lenders and borrowers,
bankers and debtors—none will be spared.
3The earth will be completely emptied and looted.
The Lord has spoken!
4The earth mourns and dries up,
and the land wastes away and withers.
Even the greatest people on earth waste away.
5The earth suffers for the sins of its people,
for they have twisted God’s instructions,
violated his laws,
and broken his everlasting covenant.
6Therefore, a curse consumes the earth.
Its people must pay the price for their sin.
They are destroyed by fire,
and only a few are left alive.
7The grapevines waste away,
and there is no new wine.
All the merrymakers sigh and mourn.
8The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled;
the happy cries of celebration are heard no more.
The melodious chords of the harp are silent.
9Gone are the joys of wine and song;
alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.
10The city writhes in chaos;
every home is locked to keep out intruders.
11Mobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine.
Joy has turned to gloom.
Gladness has been banished from the land.
12The city is left in ruins,
its gates battered down.
13Throughout the earth the story is the same—
only a remnant is left,
like the stray olives left on the tree
or the few grapes left on the vine after harvest.
14But all who are left shout and sing for joy.
Those in the west praise the Lord’s majesty.
15In eastern lands, give glory to the Lord.
In the lands beyond the sea, praise the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
16We hear songs of praise from the ends of the earth,
songs that give glory to the Righteous One!
But my heart is heavy with grief.
Weep for me, for I wither away.
Deceit still prevails,
and treachery is everywhere.
17Terror and traps and snares will be your lot,
you people of the earth.
18Those who flee in terror will fall into a trap,
and those who escape the trap will be caught in a snare.
Destruction falls like rain from the heavens;
the foundations of the earth shake.
19The earth has broken up.
It has utterly collapsed;
it is violently shaken.
20The earth staggers like a drunk.
It trembles like a tent in a storm.
It falls and will not rise again,
for the guilt of its rebellion is very heavy.
21In that day the Lord will punish the gods in the heavens
and the proud rulers of the nations on earth.
22They will be rounded up and put in prison.
They will be shut up in prison
and will finally be punished.
23Then the glory of the moon will wane,
and the brightness of the sun will fade,
for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion.
He will rule in great glory in Jerusalem,
in the sight of all the leaders of his people.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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