Isaiah 24:17-21 New English Translation
17 Terror, pit, and snare
are ready to overtake, you inhabitants of the earth![a]
18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit;[b]
the one who climbs out of the pit
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens[c] are opened up[d]
and the foundations of the earth shake.
19 The earth is broken in pieces,
the earth is ripped to shreds,
the earth shakes violently.[e]
20 The earth will stagger around[f] like a drunk;
it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm.[g]
Its sin will weigh it down,
and it will fall and never get up again.
The Lord Will Become King
21 At that time[h] the Lord will punish[i]
the heavenly forces in the heavens[j]
and the earthly kings on the earth.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 24:17 tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת ,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פ and ח (pe and khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ד and ת, dalet and tav). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.
- Isaiah 24:18 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
- Isaiah 24:18 tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”
- Isaiah 24:18 sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).
- Isaiah 24:19 tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each line ends with אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.
- Isaiah 24:20 tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.
- Isaiah 24:20 tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.
- Isaiah 24:21 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.
- Isaiah 24:21 tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”
- Isaiah 24:21 tn Heb “the host of the height in the height.” The “host of the height/heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets; see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13).
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