Isaiah 24
24
Messages of hope for the Lord's people who are suffering
The earth will be punished
1The LORD is going to twist the earth out of shape and turn it into a desert. Everyone will be scattered, 2including ordinary people and priests, slaves and slave owners, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, the rich and the poor. 3The earth will be stripped bare and left that way. This is what the LORD has promised.
4The earth wilts away;
its mighty leaders melt
to nothing.#24.4 its…to nothing: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
5The earth is polluted
because its people
disobeyed the laws of God,
breaking their agreement
that was to last for ever.
6The earth is under a curse;
its people are dying out
because of their sins.
7Grapevines have dried up:
wine is almost gone—
mournful sounds are heard
instead of joyful shouts.
8No one plays tambourines
or stringed instruments;
all noisy celebrating
has come to an end.
9They no longer sing
as they drink their wine,
and it tastes sour.
10Towns are crushed and in chaos;
houses are locked tight.
11Happy times have disappeared
from the earth,
and people shout in the streets,
“We're out of wine!”
12Cities are destroyed;
their gates are torn down.
13Nations will be stripped bare,
like olive trees or vineyards
after the harvest season.
Praise the God of justice
14People in the west shout;
they joyfully praise
the majesty of the LORD.
15And so, everyone in the east
and those on the islands
should praise the LORD,
the God of Israel.
16From all over the world
songs of praise are heard
for the God of justice.#24.16 God of justice: Or “people who do right”.
But I feel awful,
terribly miserable.
Can anyone be trusted?
So many are treacherous!
There's no escape
17Terror, traps, and pits
are waiting for everyone.
18If you are terrified and run,
you will fall into a pit;
if you crawl out of the pit,
you will get caught in a trap.
The sky has split apart
like a window thrown open.
The foundations of the earth
have been shaken;
19the earth is shattered,
ripped to pieces.
20It staggers and shakes
like a drunkard
or a hut in a storm.
It is burdened down with sin;
the earth will fall,
never again to get up.
21On that day the LORD
will punish the powers
in the heavens#24.21 the powers in the heavens: In ancient times the stars were thought of as powerful spiritual beings, and sometimes they stood for pagan gods.
and the kings of the earth.
22He will put them in a pit
and keep them prisoner.
Then later on,
he will punish them.
23The moon and sun will both
be embarrassed and ashamed.
The LORD All-Powerful will rule
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
where he will show its rulers
his wonderful glory.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Isaiah 24
24
The Earth Judged
1Look, the Lord is stripping the earth bare
and making it desolate.
He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants:
2people and priest alike,
servant and master,
female servant and mistress,
buyer and seller,
lender and borrower,
creditor and debtor.
3The earth will be stripped completely bare
and will be totally plundered,
for the Lord has spoken this message.#Is 1:20; 6:11
4The earth mourns and withers;
the world wastes away and withers;
the exalted people of the earth waste away.
5The earth is polluted by its inhabitants,#Gn 3:17; 6:5,11–12; Nm 35:33; Is 9:17; 10:6
for they have transgressed teachings,
overstepped decrees,
and broken the permanent covenant.#Gn 9:16; 17:7; Ex 31:16; Lv 24:8; 2Sm 23:5; Ps 105:10; Is 55:3; 61:8; Jr 32:40; Ezk 16:60
6Therefore a curse has consumed the earth,#Jos 23:15; Is 34:5; 43:28; Zch 5:3–4
and its inhabitants have become guilty;
the earth’s inhabitants have been burned,
and only a few survive.
7The new wine mourns;#Is 16:10; Jl 1:10,12
the vine withers.
All the carousers now groan.
8The joyful tambourines#Ex 15:20; Jdg 11:34; 1Sm 18:6; Is 30:32; Jr 31:4 have ceased.
The noise of the jubilant has stopped.
The joyful lyre has ceased.
9They no longer sing and drink wine;
beer is bitter to those who drink it.
10The city of chaos is shattered;#Is 34:11
every house is closed to entry.#Is 23:1
11In the streets they cry#24:11 Lit streets she cries for wine.
All joy grows dark;
earth’s rejoicing goes into exile.
12Only desolation remains in the city;
its gate has collapsed in ruins.
13For this is how it will be on earth
among the nations:
like a harvested olive tree,
like a gleaning after a grape harvest.#Is 17:6
14They raise their voices, they sing out;
they proclaim in the west
the majesty of the Lord.
15Therefore, in the east honor the Lord!
In the coasts and islands of the west
honor the name of the Lord,
the God of Israel.
16From the ends of the earth we hear songs:
The Splendor of the Righteous One.#Ex 9:27; Pr 21:12; Ac 3:14; 7:52; 22:14
But I said, “I waste away! I waste away!#24:16 Hb obscure
Woe is me.”
The treacherous act treacherously;
the treacherous deal very treacherously.#Is 21:2; 33:1; Jr 3:20; 5:11
17Panic, pit, and trap await you#Am 5:19
who dwell on the earth.#Jr 48:43–44
18Whoever flees at the sound of panic
will fall into a pit,
and whoever escapes from the pit
will be caught in a trap.
For the floodgates on high are opened,#Gn 7:11
and the foundations of the earth are shaken.#Ps 18:7; 46:2; Is 2:19,21; 13:13
19The earth is completely devastated;
the earth is split open;
the earth is violently shaken.
20The earth staggers like a drunkard#Is 19:14
and sways like a hut.
Earth’s rebellion weighs it down,
and it falls, never to rise again.
21On that day#Is 27:12 the Lord will punish
the army of the heights in the heights
and the kings of the ground on the ground.
22They will be gathered together
like prisoners in a pit.#Rv 20:1–3
They will be confined to a dungeon;#Rv 20:2
after many days they will be punished.
23The moon will be put to shame
and the sun disgraced,
because the Lord of Armies will reign as king
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
and he will display his glory
in the presence of his elders.#Is 2:2–4; 1Co 15:54
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers