Isaiah 24
24
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 forever.
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 windstorm.
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.
23Both the moon and sun will
be embarrassed and ashamed.
The Lord All-Powerful will rule
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
where he will show its rulers
his wonderful glory.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 24: CEVDCI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 24
24
1Behold, the Lord will lay waste 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 laid waste and utterly despoiled;
for the Lord has spoken this word.
4The earth mourns and withers,
the world languishes and withers;
the heavens languish together with the earth.
5The earth lies polluted
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.
8 #
Rev 18.22. The mirth of the timbrels 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 city of chaos 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 reached its eventide;
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 vintage 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, 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 pine away,
I pine away. Woe is me!
For the treacherous deal treacherously,
the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
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 rent asunder,
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 will reign
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
and before his elders he will manifest his glory.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America