Isaiah 24–27: The Earth Laid Waste, and the Feast Where Death Is Swallowed
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible
Behold, the LORD lays waste the earthand leaves it in ruins.He will twist its surfaceand scatter its inhabitants—people and priest alike, servant and master,maid and mistress, buyer and seller,lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.The earth will be utterly laid wasteand thoroughly plundered.For the LORD has spoken this word.The earth mourns and withers;the world languishes and fades;the exalted of the earth waste away.The earth is defiled by its people;they have transgressed the laws;they have overstepped the decreesand broken the everlasting covenant.Therefore a curse has consumed the earth,and its inhabitants must bear the guilt;the earth’s dwellers have been burned,and only a few survive.
The new wine dries up, the vine withers.All the merrymakers now groan.The joyful tambourines have ceased;the noise of revelers has stopped;the joyful harp is silent.They no longer sing and drink wine;strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.
The city of chaos is shattered;every house is closed to entry.In the streets they cry out for wine.All joy turns to gloom;rejoicing is exiled from the land.The city is left in ruins;its gate is reduced to rubble.So will it be on the earthand among the nations,like a harvested olive tree,like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
They raise their voices, they shout for joy;from the west they proclaim the majesty of the LORD.Therefore glorify the LORD in the east.Extol the name of the LORD, the God of Israelin the islands of the sea.From the ends of the earth we hear singing:“Glory to the Righteous One.”
But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away!Woe is me.”The treacherous betray;the treacherous deal in treachery.Terror and pit and snare await you,O dweller of the earth.Whoever flees the sound of panicwill fall into the pit,and whoever climbs from the pitwill be caught in the snare.
For the windows of heaven are open,and the foundations of the earth are shaken.The earth is utterly broken apart,the earth is split open,the earth is shaken violently.The earth staggers like a drunkardand sways like a shack.Earth’s rebellion weighs it down,and it falls, never to rise again.
In that day the LORD will punishthe host of heaven aboveand the kings of the earth below.They will be gathered togetherlike prisoners in a pit.They will be confined to a dungeonand punished after many days.The moon will be confoundedand the sun will be ashamed;for the LORD of Hosts will reignon Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,and before his elders with great glory.O LORD, you are my God!
I will exalt you;I will praise your name.For you have worked wonders—plans formed long ago—in perfect faithfulness.Indeed, you have made the city a heap of rubble,the fortified town a ruin.The fortress of strangers is a city no more;it will never be rebuilt.Therefore, a strong people will honor you.The cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
For you have been a refuge for the poor,a stronghold for the needy in distress,a refuge from the storm,a shade from the heat.For the breath of the ruthlessis like rain against a wall,like heat in a dry land.You subdue the uproar of foreigners.As the shade of a cloud cools the heat,so the song of the ruthless is silenced.
On this mountain the LORD of Hostswill prepare a banquet for all the peoples,a feast of aged wine, of choice meat,of finely aged wine.On this mountain he will swallow upthe shroud that enfolds all peoples,the sheet that covers all nations;he will swallow up death forever.The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every faceand remove the disgrace of his peoplefrom the whole earth.For the LORD has spoken.And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God;we have waited for him, and he has saved us.This is the LORD for whom we have waited.Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
For the hand of the LORDwill rest on this mountain.But Moab will be trampled in his placeas straw is trodden into the dung pile.He will spread out his hands within it,as a swimmer spreads his arms to swim.His pride will be brought low,despite the skill of his hands.The high-walled fortress will be brought down,cast to the ground, into the dust.
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter—one that remains faithful.You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind,because he trusts in you.Trust in the LORD forever,because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.For he has humbled those who dwell on high;he lays the lofty city low.He brings it down to the ground;he casts it into the dust.Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed,the steps of the poor.
The path of the righteous is level;you clear a straight path for the upright.Yes, we wait for you, O LORD;we walk in the path of your judgments.Your name and renownare the desire of our souls.My soul longs for you in the night;indeed, my spirit seeks you at dawn.For when your judgments come upon the earth,the people of the world learn righteousness.Though grace is shown to the wicked man,he does not learn righteousness.In the land of righteousness he acts unjustlyand fails to see the majesty of the LORD.
O LORD, your hand is upraised,but they do not see it.They will see your zeal for your peopleand be put to shame.The fire set for your enemieswill consume them!O LORD, you will establish peace for us.For all that we have accomplished,you have done for us.O LORD our God, other lords besides you have had dominion,but your name alone do we confess.
The dead will not live;the departed spirits will not rise.Therefore you have punished and destroyed them;you have wiped out all memory of them.You have enlarged the nation, O LORD;you have enlarged the nation.You have gained glory for yourself;you have extended all the borders of the land.
O LORD, they sought you in their distress;when you disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.As a woman with child about to give birthwrithes and cries out in pain,so were we in your presence, O LORD.We were with child; we writhed in pain;but we gave birth to wind.We have given no salvation to the earth,nor brought any life into the world.
Your dead will live; their bodies will rise.Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust!For your dew is like the dew of the morning,and the earth will bring forth her dead.
Go, my people, enter your roomsand shut your doors behind you.Hide yourselves a little whileuntil the wrath has passed.For behold, the LORD is coming out of his dwellingto punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.The earth will reveal her bloodshedand will no longer conceal her slain.
In that day the LORD will take his sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent —Leviathan the coiling serpent—and he will slay the dragon of the sea. In that day:
“Sing about a fruitful vineyard.I, the LORD, am its keeper;I water it continually.I guard it night and dayso no one can disturb it;I am not angry.If only thorns and briers confronted me,I would march and trample them,I would burn them to the ground.Or let them lay claim to my protection;let them make peace with me—yes, let them make peace with me.”
In the days to come, Jacob will take root.Israel will bud and blossomand fill the whole world with fruit.
Has the LORD struck Israel as he struck her oppressors?Was she killed like those who slayed her?By warfare and exile you contended with herand removed her with a fierce wind,as on the day the east wind blows.Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for,and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this:When he makes all the altar stoneslike crushed bits of chalk,no Asherah poles or incense altarswill remain standing.
For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken.There the calves graze, and there they lie down;they strip its branches bare.When its limbs are dry,they are broken off.Women come and use them for kindling;for this is a people without understanding.Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them,and their Creator shows them no favor.
In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one. And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.