City of chaos falls
24 Look! The Lord will devastate the earth and destroy it,
will twist its face and scatter its inhabitants.
2 It will be the same for the people and for the priest;
for the slave and for his master;
for the female servant and for her mistress;
for the buyer and for the seller;
for the lender and for the borrower;
for the creditor and for the debtor.
3 The earth will be devastated, totally devastated;
it will be destroyed, completely destroyed
because the Lord has said it would be so.
4 The earth dries up and wilts;
the world withers and wilts;
the heavens wither away with the earth.
5 The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants,
for they have disobeyed instruction,
swept aside law,
and broken the ancient covenant.
6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth; its inhabitants suffer for their guilt.
Therefore, the earth’s inhabitants dwindle; very few are left.
7 The wine dries up;
the vine withers;
all the merry-hearted groan.
8 The joyous tambourines have ceased;
the roar of partiers has stopped;
the joyous harp has ceased.
9 No one drinks wine or sings;
beer is bitter to its drinkers.
10 The town is in chaos, broken;
every house is shut, without entrance.
11 There is a cry for wine in the streets.
All joy has reached its dusk;
happiness is exiled from the earth.
12 Ruin remains in the city,
and the gate is battered to wreckage.
13 It will be like this in the central part of the land and among the peoples,
like an olive tree that has been shaken,
like remains from the grape harvest.
14 They raise their voice;
they sing with joy;
from the west they will shout about the Lord’s majesty.
15 Therefore, in the east honor the Lord;
in the islands of the sea,
the name of the Lord God of Israel!
16 From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
“Glory to the righteous one!”
But I say, “I waste away; I waste away;
I’m doomed!
Betrayers betray; treacherously betrayers betray.”
17 Terror, trench, and trap are upon you,
ruler of the earth!
18 Whoever flees from the sound of terror will fall into the trench;
whoever climbs from the trench will be caught in the trap.
Heaven’s windows will open, and the earth’s foundations will quake.
19 The earth is shattering, shattering;
the earth is shaking, shaking;
the earth is teetering, tottering.
20 The earth trembles like a drunk
and shudders like a hut;
its rebellion weighs heavy upon it;
it will fall, no more to rise.
21 On that day, the Lord will punish the forces of heaven in heaven, and the kings of the earth on earth. 22 They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit, shut into a prison, and punished after many days. 23 The moon will be diminished, and the sun will fade, since the Lord of heavenly forces will rule on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, glorious before his elders.