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.
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Isaiah 24: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 24
24
The Lord Will Destroy the Earth
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 forever.
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.
Honor 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.
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