Impending Judgment on the Earth
1 Behold, theLordmakes the earth empty and makes it waste,
Distorts its surface
And scatters abroad its inhabitants.
2 And it shall be:
# As with the people, so with thepriest;
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 creditor, so with the debtor.
3 The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered,
For theLordhas spoken this word.
4 The earth mournsandfades away,
The world languishesandfades away;
# Thehaughty people of the earth languish.
5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
# Because they havetransgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
# Broken theeverlasting covenant.
6 Thereforethe curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are desolate.
# Therefore the inhabitants of the earth areburned,
And few menareleft.
7 The new wine fails, the vine languishes,
All the merry-hearted sigh.
8 The mirthof the tambourine ceases,
The noise of the jubilant ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of confusion is broken down;
Every house is shut up, so that none may go in.
11 Thereisa cry for wine in the streets,
All joy is darkened,
The mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city desolation is left,
And the gate is stricken with destruction.
13 When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people,
# Itshallbelike the shaking of an olive tree,
Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.
14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing;
For the majesty of theLord
They shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Thereforeglorify theLordin the dawning light,
# The name of theLordGod of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
“Glory to the righteous!”
But I said, “I am ruined, ruined!
Woe to me!
# The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”
17 Fear and the pit and the snare
Areupon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall be
Thathe who flees from the noise of the fear
Shall fall into the pit,
And he who comes up from the midst of the pit
Shall be caught in the snare;
# Forthe windows from on high are open,
# Andthe foundations of the earth are shaken.
19 The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
20 The earth shallreel to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall totter like a hut;
Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.
21 It shall come to pass in that day
ThattheLordwill punish on high the host of exalted ones,
# And on the earththe kings of the earth.
22 They will be gathered together,
Asprisoners are gathered in the pit,
And will be shut up in the prison;
After many days they will be punished.
23 Then themoon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
# For theLordof hosts willreign
# OnMount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His elders, gloriously.