God’s Judgment on the Earth

1Behold, YHWH is emptying the earth,

and is making it waste;

and He has twisted its surface

and has scattered its dwellers.

2And it will be—as with the people so with the priest, as with the servant so with his master,

as with the maidservant so with her mistress, as with the buyer so with the seller,

as with the lender so with the borrower, as with the creditor so with the lender of it.

3The earth will be utterly emptied

and utterly plundered,

for YHWH has spoken this word.

4The earth has mourned and has faded away;

the world has languished and has faded away;

the haughty have languished people of the earth.

5And the earth is defiled under its dwellers,

because they have transgressed the laws—

they have passed ovr the decree,

they have broken the everlasting covenant.

6Upon thus a curse has consumed the earth,

and those who dwell upon it are found guilty;

thus those dwelling in the earth have been burned,

and few men have been left.

7The new wine has failed, the vine has languished;

all the joyful of heart have groaned.

8The joy of the tambourines has ceased;

the noise of the jubilant ones has ended;

the joy of the harp has ceased.

9They will not drink wine with a song;

strong drink is bitter to those drinking it.

10The city of confusion has been broken down;

every house is closed up from entering.

11A cry over the wine is in the streets;

all joy is darkened;

the rejoicing of the land has been removed.

12In the city a desolation has been left,

and the gate is broken into a ruin.

13For thus it shall be in the midst of the land

among the nations,

like the shaking of an olive tree,

like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.

14They will lift up their voice;

they will sing of the majesty of YHWH—they have cried aloud from the sea.†

15Upon thus, glorify YHWH in the dawning light,

the name of YHWH God of Israel

in the islands† of the sea.

16From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:

“Glory to the Righteous One.”

And I said, “Leanness is unto me! Leanness is unto me!

Woe to me!”

Treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,

and with treachery treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously.

17Terror and pit and snare are upon you,

O dweller of the earth.

18And it will come to pass that he who flees from the sound of terror

will fall into the pit,

and he who comes up from the midst of the pit

will be caught in the snare.

For the windows on high have been opened,

and the foundations of the earth are shaken.

19The earth has been utterly broken apart;

the earth has been utterly split open;

the earth has been shaken violently.

20The earth like a drunkard will stagger greatly,

and it will totter like a hut;

and transgression will be heavy upon it,

and it will fall and never again rise.

21And it will come to pass in that day, that YHWH will lay a charge

upon the host of the high place in the high place

and upon the kings of the earth on the earth.

22And they will be gathered together—

a gathering of bound ones in the pit,

and they will be shut up in the prison,

and after a multitude of days they will be punished.

23The moon and will be confounded

and the sun will be ashamed,

for YHWH of hosts will reign

on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

and before His elders is glory.