Isaiah 24-26

English Standard Version

^4 (G)The earth mourns and withers;
    the world languishes and withers;
    the highest people of the earth languish.
⁵ The earth lies ^(H)defiled
    under its inhabitants;
for ^(I)they have transgressed the laws,
    violated the statutes,
    broken the everlasting covenant.
⁶ Therefore ^(J)a curse devours the earth,
    and its inhabitants ^(K)suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
    and few men are left.
^7 (L)The wine mourns,
    the vine languishes,
    all the merry-hearted sigh.
^8 (M)The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
    the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
    the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
⁹ No more do they drink wine ^(N)with singing;
    strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
^10 (O)The wasted city is broken down;
    ^(P)every house is shut up so that none can enter.
^11 (Q)There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
    ^(R)all joy has grown dark;
    the gladness of the earth is banished.
¹² Desolation is left in the city;
    the gates are battered into ruins.
¹³ For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
    among the nations,
^(S)as when an olive tree is beaten,
    as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

¹⁴ They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
    over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.^[b]
15 (T)Therefore in the east^[c] give glory to the Lord;
    in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
^16 (U)From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
    of glory to ^(V)the Righteous One.
But I say, “I waste away,
    I waste away. Woe is me!
For ^(W)the traitors have betrayed,
    with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

^17 (X)Terror and the pit and the snare^[d]
    are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
^18 (Y)He who flees at the sound of the terror
    shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
    shall be caught in the snare.
For ^(Z)the windows of heaven are opened,
    and ^(AA)the foundations of the earth tremble.
¹⁹ The earth is utterly broken,
    the earth is split apart,
    the earth is violently shaken.
²⁰ The earth ^(AB)staggers like a drunken man;
    it sways like a hut;
^(AC)its transgression lies heavy upon it,
    and it falls, and will not rise again.

²¹ On that day the Lord will punish
    the host of heaven, in heaven,
    and ^(AD)the kings of the earth, on the earth.
^22 (AE)They will be gathered together
    as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
    and after many days ^(AF)they will be punished.
^23 (AG)Then the moon will be confounded
    and the sun ashamed,
for ^(AH)the Lord of hosts reigns
    on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and his glory will be before his elders.

^6 (AR)On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    ^(AS)of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
⁷ And he will swallow up ^(AT)on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    ^(AU)the veil that is spread over all nations.
^{8     (AV)}He will swallow up death forever;
and ^(AW)the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and ^(AX)the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    ^(AY)for the Lord has spoken.
⁹ It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; ^(AZ)we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    ^(BA)let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
¹⁰ For the hand of the Lord will rest ^(BB)on this mountain,
    and ^(BC)Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
    as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.^[e]
11 (BD)And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
    as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
    but the Lord ^(BE)will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill^[f] of his hands.
¹² And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
    lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

“We have a strong city;
    he sets up ^(BG)salvation
    as walls and bulwarks.
^2 (BH)Open the gates,
    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
^3 (BI)You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.
⁴ Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
^5 (BJ)For he has humbled
    the inhabitants of the height,
    the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
    casts it to the dust.
⁶ The foot tramples it,
    the feet of ^(BK)the poor,
    the steps of ^(BL)the needy.”

⁷ The path of the righteous is level;
    ^(BM)you make level the way of the righteous.
⁸ In the path of your judgments,
    O Lord, we wait for you;
^(BN)your name and ^(BO)remembrance
    are the desire of our soul.
⁹ My soul yearns for you in the night;
    my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
^(BP)For when your judgments are in the earth,
    the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
^10 (BQ)If favor is shown to the wicked,
    he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
    and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
¹¹ O Lord, ^(BR)your hand is lifted up,
    but ^(BS)they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
    Let ^(BT)the fire for your adversaries consume them.
¹² O Lord, you will ordain ^(BU)peace for us,
    for you have indeed done for us all our works.
¹³ O Lord our God,
    ^(BV)other lords besides you have ruled over us,
    ^(BW)but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
¹⁴ They are dead, they will not live;
    they are shades, they will not arise;
to that end you have visited them with destruction
    and wiped out all remembrance of them.
^15 (BX)But you have increased the nation, O Lord,
    you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
    ^(BY)you have enlarged all the borders of the land.

¹⁶ O Lord, ^(BZ)in distress they sought you;
    they poured out a whispered prayer
    when your discipline was upon them.
^17 (CA)Like a pregnant woman
    who writhes and cries out in her pangs
    when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
^{18     (CB)}we were pregnant, we writhed,
    but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
    and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
^19 (CC)Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
    You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For ^(CD)your dew is a dew of light,
    and the earth will give birth to the dead.

²⁰ Come, my people, enter your chambers,
    and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves ^(CE)for a little while
    until the fury has passed by.
^21 (CF)For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place
    to punish the inhabitants of ^(CG)the earth for their iniquity,
and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
    and will no more cover its slain.