Font Size
Isaiah 24
The Message
Isaiah 24
The Message
The Landscape Will Be a Moonscape
24 1-3 Danger ahead! God’s about to ravish the earth
and leave it in ruins,
Rip everything out by the roots
and send everyone scurrying:
priests and laypeople alike,
owners and workers alike,
celebrities and nobodies alike,
buyers and sellers alike,
bankers and beggars alike,
the haves and have-nots alike.
The landscape will be a moonscape,
totally wasted.
And why? Because God says so.
He’s issued the orders.
4 The earth turns gaunt and gray,
the world silent and sad,
sky and land lifeless, colorless.
Earth Polluted by Its Very Own People
5-13 Earth is polluted by its very own people,
who have broken its laws,
Disrupted its order,
violated the sacred and eternal covenant.
Therefore a curse, like a cancer,
ravages the earth.
Its people pay the price of their sacrilege.
They dwindle away, dying out one by one.
No more wine, no more vineyards,
no more songs or singers.
The laughter of castanets is gone,
the shouts of celebrants, gone,
the laughter of fiddles, gone.
No more parties with toasts of champagne.
Serious drinkers gag on their drinks.
The chaotic cities are unlivable. Anarchy reigns.
Every house is boarded up, condemned.
People riot in the streets for wine,
but the good times are gone forever—
no more joy for this old world.
The city is dead and deserted,
bulldozed into piles of rubble.
That’s the way it will be on this earth.
This is the fate of all nations:
An olive tree shaken clean of its olives,
a grapevine picked clean of its grapes.
14-16 But there are some who will break into glad song.
Out of the west they’ll shout of God’s majesty.
Yes, from the east God’s glory will ascend.
Every island of the sea
Will broadcast God’s fame,
the fame of the God of Israel.
From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing:
“All praise to the Righteous One!”
16-20 But I said, “That’s all well and good for somebody,
but all I can see is doom, doom, and more doom.”
All of them at one another’s throats,
yes, all of them at one another’s throats.
Terror and pits and booby traps
are everywhere, whoever you are.
If you run from the terror,
you’ll fall into the pit.
If you climb out of the pit,
you’ll get caught in the trap.
Chaos pours out of the skies.
The foundations of earth are crumbling.
Earth is smashed to pieces,
earth is ripped to shreds,
earth is wobbling out of control,
Earth staggers like a drunk,
sways like a shack in a high wind.
Its piled-up sins are too much for it.
It collapses and won’t get up again.
21-23 That’s when God will call on the carpet
rebel powers in the skies and
Rebel kings on earth.
They’ll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail,
Corralled and locked up in a jail,
and then sentenced and put to hard labor.
Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated,
red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced,
Because God-of-the-Angel-Armies will take over,
ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem,
Splendid and glorious
before all his leaders.
Isaiah 24
New International Version
Isaiah 24
New International Version
The Lord’s Devastation of the Earth
24 See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth(A)
and devastate(B) it;
he will ruin its face
and scatter(C) its inhabitants—
2 it will be the same
for priest as for people,(D)
for the master as for his servant,
for the mistress as for her servant,
for seller as for buyer,(E)
for borrower as for lender,
for debtor as for creditor.(F)
3 The earth will be completely laid waste(G)
and totally plundered.(H)
The Lord has spoken(I) this word.
4 The earth dries up(J) and withers,(K)
the world languishes and withers,
the heavens(L) languish with the earth.(M)
5 The earth is defiled(N) by its people;
they have disobeyed(O) the laws,
violated the statutes
and broken the everlasting covenant.(P)
6 Therefore a curse(Q) consumes the earth;
its people must bear their guilt.
Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up,(R)
and very few are left.
7 The new wine dries up(S) and the vine withers;(T)
all the merrymakers groan.(U)
8 The joyful timbrels(V) are stilled,
the noise(W) of the revelers(X) has stopped,
the joyful harp(Y) is silent.(Z)
9 No longer do they drink wine(AA) with a song;
the beer is bitter(AB) to its drinkers.
10 The ruined city(AC) lies desolate;(AD)
the entrance to every house is barred.
11 In the streets they cry out(AE) for wine;(AF)
all joy turns to gloom,(AG)
all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.
12 The city is left in ruins,(AH)
its gate(AI) is battered to pieces.
13 So will it be on the earth
and among the nations,
as when an olive tree is beaten,(AJ)
or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.(AK)
14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy;(AL)
from the west(AM) they acclaim the Lord’s majesty.
15 Therefore in the east(AN) give glory(AO) to the Lord;
exalt(AP) the name(AQ) of the Lord, the God of Israel,
in the islands(AR) of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth(AS) we hear singing:(AT)
“Glory(AU) to the Righteous One.”(AV)
But I said, “I waste away, I waste away!(AW)
Woe(AX) to me!
The treacherous(AY) betray!
With treachery the treacherous betray!(AZ)”
17 Terror(BA) and pit and snare(BB) await you,
people of the earth.(BC)
18 Whoever flees(BD) at the sound of terror
will fall into a pit;(BE)
whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare.(BF)
The floodgates of the heavens(BG) are opened,
the foundations of the earth shake.(BH)
19 The earth is broken up,(BI)
the earth is split asunder,(BJ)
the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth reels like a drunkard,(BK)
it sways like a hut(BL) in the wind;
so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion(BM)
that it falls(BN)—never to rise again.(BO)
21 In that day(BP) the Lord will punish(BQ)
the powers(BR) in the heavens above
and the kings(BS) on the earth below.
22 They will be herded together
like prisoners(BT) bound in a dungeon;(BU)
they will be shut up in prison
and be punished[a] after many days.(BV)
23 The moon will be dismayed,
the sun(BW) ashamed;
for the Lord Almighty will reign(BX)
on Mount Zion(BY) and in Jerusalem,
and before its elders—with great glory.(BZ)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 24:22 Or released
Isaiah 24
King James Version
Isaiah 24
King James Version
24 Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.
4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
10 The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
13 When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.
14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.