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1Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth
and leave it in ruins;
he will mar its surface
and scatter its inhabitants.
2Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people,[#tn Heb “and it will be like the people, like the priest.”]
the master as well as the servant,
the elegant lady as well as the female attendant,
the seller as well as the buyer,
the borrower as well as the lender,
the creditor as well as the debtor.
3The earth will be completely devastated
and thoroughly ransacked.
For the Lord has decreed this judgment.
4The earth dries up and withers,[#tn Some prefer to read “land” here, but the word pair אֶרֶץ/תֵּבֵל (erets/tevel [see the corresponding term in the parallel line]) elsewhere clearly designates the earth/world (see 1 Sam 2:8; 1 Chr 16:30; Job 37;12; Pss 19:4; 24:1; 33:8; 89:11; 90:2; 96:13; 98:9; Prov 8:26, 31; Isa 14:16-17; 34:1; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Lam 4:12). According to L. Stadelmann, תבל designates “the habitable part of the world” (The Hebrew Conception of the World [AnBib], 130).; #tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists the homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism.]
the world shrivels up and withers;
the prominent people of the earth fade away.
5The earth is defiled by its inhabitants,[#tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”; #sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.]
for they have violated laws,
disregarded the regulation,
and broken the permanent treaty.
6So a treaty curse devours the earth;[#sn Ancient Near Eastern treaties often had “curses,” or threatened judgments, attached to them. (See Deut 28 for a biblical example of such curses.) The party or parties taking an oath of allegiance acknowledged that disobedience would activate these curses, which typically threatened loss of agricultural fertility as depicted in the following verses.]
its inhabitants pay for their guilt.
This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear,
and are reduced to just a handful of people.
7The new wine dries up,
the vines shrivel up,
all those who like to celebrate groan.
8The happy sound of the tambourines stops,[#tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).]
the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,
the happy sound of the harp ceases.
9They no longer sing and drink wine;[#tn Heb “with a song they do not drink wine.”]
the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.
10The ruined town is shattered;[#tn Heb “the city of chaos” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Isaiah uses the term תֹּהוּ (tohu) rather frequently of things (like idols) that are empty and worthless (see BDB 1062 s.v.), so the word might characterize the city as rebellious or morally worthless. However, in this context, which focuses on the effects of divine judgment, it probably refers to the ruined or worthless condition in which the city is left (note the use of the word in Isa 34:11). For a discussion of the identity of this city, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In the context of universal judgment depicted in Isa 24, this city represents all the nations and cities of the world which, like Babylon of old and the powers/cities mentioned in chapters 13-23, rebel against God’s authority. Behind the stereotypical language one can detect various specific manifestations of this symbolic and paradigmatic city, including Babylon, Moab, and Jerusalem, all of which are alluded or referred to in chapters 24-27.]
all of the houses are shut up tight.
11They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine;[#tn Heb “[there is] an outcry over the wine in the streets.”]
all joy turns to sorrow;
celebrations disappear from the earth.
12The city is left in ruins;[#tn Heb “and there is left in the city desolation.”]
the gate is reduced to rubble.
13This is what will happen throughout the earth,[#tn Heb “in the midst of” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).]
among the nations.
It will be like when they beat an olive tree,
and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest.
14They lift their voices and shout joyfully;[#sn The remnant of the nations (see v. 13) may be the unspecified subject. If so, then those who have survived the judgment begin to praise God.]
they praise the majesty of the Lord in the west.
15So in the east extol the Lord ,[#tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “in the lights,” interpreted by some to mean “in the region of light,” referring to the east. Some scholars have suggested the emendation of בָּאֻרִים (ba’urim) to בְּאִיֵּי הַיָּם (bÿ’iyyey hayyam, “along the seacoasts”), a phrase that is repeated in the next line. In this case, the two lines form synonymous parallelism. If one retains the MT reading (as above), “in the east” and “along the seacoasts” depict the two ends of the earth to refer to all the earth (as a merism).]
along the seacoasts extol the fame of the Lord God of Israel.
16From the ends of the earth we hear songs –[#sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.]
the Just One is majestic.
But I say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!
Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!”
17Terror, pit, and snare
are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth!
18The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit;
the one who climbs out of the pit,
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens are opened up
and the foundations of the earth shake.
19The earth is broken in pieces,
the earth is ripped to shreds,
the earth shakes violently.
20The earth will stagger around like a drunk;[#tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.]
it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm.
Its sin will weigh it down,
and it will fall and never get up again.
21At that time the Lord will punish[#tn Or “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.; #tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”]
the heavenly forces in the heavens
and the earthly kings on the earth.
22They will be imprisoned in a pit,[#tn Heb “they will be gathered [in] a gathering [as] a prisoner in a cistern.” It is tempting to eliminate אֲסֵפָה (’asefah, “a gathering”) as dittographic or as a gloss, but sound repetition is one of the main characteristics of the style of this section of the chapter.]
locked up in a prison,
and after staying there for a long time, they will be punished.
23The full moon will be covered up,[#tn Heb “will be ashamed.”]
the bright sun will be darkened;
for the Lord who commands armies will rule
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem
in the presence of his assembly, in majestic splendor.