Isaiah 24

The LORD is going to devastate this land. [1]
He’ll tear it up so much that people will run away.
They’ll scatter abroad, leaving ghost towns behind.
2Everyone suffers:
Priest and lay person.
Slave and master.
Merchant and customer.
Banker and borrower.
Rich and bankrupt.
3The land will become a wasteland
Plundered, stripped, and trashed. [2]
The LORD said so.
4The ground dries and life on it withers.
The world retreats and life on it withers.
People everywhere hide and grow weak.

The land is polluted now,
Contaminated by the people’s sin.
They ignored the laws,
Violated the rules,
And broke their promise to God.
6A consuming curse devours the land.
People die for the guilt of their sins.
Few remain of those who lived there before,
Lightly scattered across the land.
7New wine tastes bad.
Vineyards dry and die.
Happy people sink into sadness.
8No one plays the tambourine.
No one sings the song.
No one plays the strings.
9No one drinks to the music.
There’s no music in the land.
Those who drink in silence
Choke a bitter beer.

The broken city is decimated.
Houses are boarded shut.
11People protest in the streets
Because they don’t have wine.
Joy is gone.
Happiness banished.
12There’s nothing left in this desolate city,
Beyond the gates shattered and useless.
13This is a picture of what’s coming
To nations all over the world.
They’ll be stripped naked as an olive tree
When the harvest season is done.

There are people [3] watching
And singing for joy
And cheering the strength of God.
15From the eastern lands to the western coasts,
people say good things about the LORD.
They praise the God of Israel.
16Music honoring a Good God
Plays all over the world.

People of earth, here’s what you get:
Terror and traps
And a hole in the ground for a tomb.
18Whoever spooks and runs
From a frightening sound,
Will fall in a trap in the ground.
Anyone climbing out of the pit
Will get caught in another trap.
For heaven is watching
And shaking the earth.
19The land is decimated,
Shaken and stirred,
And violently torn apart.
20Land staggers and sways
Like a drunk on a walk,
Sin on his back so heavy
He falls and never gets up.
21There’s a judgment day coming
For armies in hills,
And kings on their thrones.
The LORD will punish the high and the lowly. [4]
22They’ll be rounded up and arrested,
Tossed into prison, kept there a while,
Then punished as they deserve.
23The LORD of all will reign on Mount Zion.
Jerusalem will cheer his glory.
Moon and sun
Glory of the night and glory of the day
Are embarrassed in the presence of God.