Impending Judgment on the Earth
Behold, the Lord makes 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 the apriest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
bAs 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 the Lord has spoken this word.
4 The earth mourns and fades away,
The world languishes and fades away;
The ahaughty people of the earth languish.
5 aThe earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have btransgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
Broken the ceverlasting covenant.
6 Therefore athe curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are bburned,
And few men are left.
7 aThe new wine fails, the vine languishes,
All the merry‑hearted sigh.
8 The mirth aof 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 There is a 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,
aIt shall be like 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 the Lord
They shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Therefore aglorify the Lord in the dawning light,
bThe name of the Lord God 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!
aThe treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”
17 aFear and the pit and the snare
Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall be
That he 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;
For athe windows from on high are open,
And bthe foundations of the earth are shaken.
19 aThe earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
20 The earth shall areel 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
That the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth athe kings of the earth.
22 They will be gathered together,
As prisoners are gathered in the pit,
And will be shut up in the prison;
After many days they will be punished.
23 Then the amoon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
For the Lord of hosts will breign
On cMount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His elders, gloriously.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved.