Isaiah 24

¹Behold, Jehovah maketh the land empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad its inhabitants.

²And 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 him from whom usury is taken.

³The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for Jehovah hath spoken this word.

⁴The land mourneth, it fadeth away; the world languisheth, it fadeth away: the haughty people of the land do languish.

⁵And the land is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; for they have violated the laws, changed the statute, broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore doth the curse devour the earth, and they that dwell therein are held guilty; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are consumed, and few men are left.

⁷The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all that were merry-hearted do sigh;

⁸the mirth of tambours ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

⁹They do not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to them that drink it.

¹⁰The city of solitude is broken down; every house is shut up, so that none entereth in.

¹¹There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone;

¹²desolation remaineth in the city, and the gate is smitten, — a ruin.