Esias 24

1 Behold, the Lord is about to lay waste the world, and will make it desolate, and will lay bare the surface of it, and scatter them that dwell therein.

See, the Lord is making the earth waste and unpeopled, he is turning it upside down, and sending the people in all directions.

2 And the people shall be as the priest, and the servant as the lord, and the maid as the mistress; the buyer shall be as the seller, the lender as the borrower, and the debtor as his creditor.

And it will be the same for the people as for the priest; for the servant as for his master; and for the woman-servant as for her owner; the same for the one offering goods for a price as for him who takes them; the same for him who gives money at interest and for him who takes it; the same for him who lets others have the use of his property as for those who make use of it.

3 The earth shall be completely laid waste, and the earth shall be utterly spoiled: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.

The earth will be completely waste and without men; for this is the word of the Lord.

4 The earth mourns, and the world is ruined, the lofty ones of the earth are mourning.

The earth is sorrowing and wasting away, the world is full of grief and wasting away, the high ones of the earth come to nothing.

5 And she has sinned by reason of her inhabitants; because they have transgressed the law, and changed the ordinances, [even] the everlasting covenant.

The earth has been made unclean by those living in it; because the laws have not been kept by them, the orders have been changed, and the eternal agreement has been broken.

6 Therefore a curse shall consume the earth, because the inhabitants thereof have sinned: therefore the dwellers in the earth shall be poor, and few men shall be left.

For this cause the earth is given up to the curse, and those in it are judged as sinners: for this cause those living on the earth are burned up, and the rest are small in number.

7 The wine shall mourn, the vine shall mourn, all the merry-hearted shall sigh.

The new wine is thin, the vine is feeble, and all the glad-hearted make sounds of grief.

8 The mirth of timbrels has ceased, the sound of the harp has ceased.

The pleasing sound of all instruments of music has come to an end, and the voices of those who are glad.

9 They are ashamed, they have not drunk wine; strong drink has become bitter to them that drink [it].

There is no more drinking of wine with a song; strong drink will be bitter to those who take it.

10 All the city has become desolate: one shall shut his house so that none shall enter.

The town is waste and broken down: every house is shut up, so that no man may come in.

11 There is a howling for the wine everywhere; all the mirth of the land has ceased, all the mirth of the land has departed.

There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; there is an end of all delight, the joy of the land is gone.

12 And cities shall be left desolate, and houses being left shall fall to ruin.

In the town all is waste, and in the public place is destruction.

13 All this shall be in the land in the midst of the nations, as if one should strip an olive tree, so shall they strip them; but when the vintage is done,

For it will be in the heart of the earth among the peoples, like the shaking of an olive-tree, as the last of the grapes after the getting-in is done.

14 these shall cry aloud; and they that are left on the land shall rejoice together in the glory of the Lord: the water of the sea shall be troubled.

But those will be making sounds of joy; they will be crying loudly from the sea for the glory of the Lord.

15 Therefore shall the glory of the Lord be in the isles of the sea; the name of the Lord shall be glorious.

Give praise to the Lord in the east, to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the sea-lands.

16 O Lord God of Israel, from the ends of the earth we have heard wonderful things, [and there is] hope to the godly: but they shall say, Woe to the despisers, that despise the law.

From the farthest part of the earth comes the sound of songs, glory to the upright. But I said, I am wasting away, wasting away, the curse is on me! The false ones go on in their false way, yes, they go on acting falsely.

17 Fear, and a pit, and a snare, are upon you that dwell on the earth.

Fear, and death, and the net, are come on you, O people of the earth.

18 And it shall come to pass, [that] he that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the pit shall be caught by the snare: for windows have been opened in heaven, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken,

And it will be that he who goes in flight from the sound of fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for the windows on high are open, and the bases of the earth are shaking.

19 the earth shall be utterly confounded, and the earth shall be completely perplexed.

The earth is completely broken, it is parted in two, it is violently moved.

20 It reels as a drunkard and one oppressed with wine, and the earth shall be shaken as a storehouse of fruits; for iniquity has prevailed upon it, and it shall fall, and shall not be able to rise.

The earth will be moving uncertainly, like a man overcome by drink; it will be shaking like a tent; and the weight of its sin will be on it, crushing it down so that it will not get up again.

21 And God shall bring [his] hand upon the host of heaven, and upon the kings of the earth.

And in that day the Lord will send punishment on the army of the high ones on high, and on the kings of the earth on the earth.

22 And they shall gather the multitude thereof into prisons, and they shall shut them into a strong hold: after many generations they shall be visited.

And they will be got together, like prisoners in the prison-house; and after a long time they will have their punishment.

23 And the brick shall decay, and the wall shall fall; for the Lord shall reign from out of Sion, and out of Jerusalem, and shall be glorified before [his] elders.

Then the moon will be veiled, and the sun put to shame; for the Lord of armies will be ruling in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his judges he will let his glory be seen.