Isaiah 24

The Lord Will Punish the World

1 Look! The Lord will destroy the earth and leave it empty; he will ruin the surface of the land and scatter its people.

2 At that time the same thing will happen to everyone: to common people and priests, to slaves and masters, to women slaves and their women masters, to buyers and sellers, to those who borrow and those who lend, to bankers and those who owe the bank.

3 The earth will be completely empty. The wealth will all be taken, because the Lord has commanded it.

4 The earth will dry up and die; the world will grow weak and die; the great leaders in this land will become weak.

5 The people of the earth have ruined it, because they do not follow God’s teachings
or obey God’s laws or keep their agreement with God that was to last forever.

6 So a curse will destroy the earth. The people of the world are guilty,
so they will be burned up; only a few will be left.

7 The new wine will be bad, and the grapevines will die. People who were happy will be sad.

8 The happy music of the tambourines will end. The happy sounds of wild parties will stop. The joyful music from the harps will end.

9 People will no longer sing while they drink their wine. The beer will taste bitter to those who drink it.

10 The ruined city will be empty, and people will hide behind closed doors.

11 People in the streets will ask for wine, but joy will have turned to sadness; all the happiness will have left.

12 The city will be left in ruins, and its gates will be smashed to pieces.

13 This is what will happen all over the earth and to all the nations.
The earth will be like an olive tree after the harvest or like the few grapes left on a vine after harvest.

14 The people shout for joy. From the west they praise the greatness of the Lord.

15 People in the east, praise the Lord. People in the islands of the sea, praise the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

16 We hear songs from every part of the earth praising God, the Righteous One.
But I said, “I am dying! I am dying! How terrible it will be for me!
Traitors turn against people; with their dishonesty, they turn against people.”

17 There are terrors, holes, and traps for the people of the earth.

18 Anyone who tries to escape from the sound of terror will fall into a hole.
Anyone who climbs out of the hole will be caught in a trap.
The clouds in the sky will pour out rain, and the foundations of the earth will shake.

19 The earth will be broken up; the earth will split open; the earth will shake violently.

20 The earth will stumble around like someone who is drunk; it will shake like a hut in a storm.
Its sin is like a heavy weight on its back; it will fall and never rise again.

21 At that time the Lord will punish the powers in the sky above and the rulers on earth below.

22 They will be gathered together like prisoners thrown into a dungeon;
they will be shut up in prison. After much time they will be punished.

23 The moon will be embarrassed, and the sun will be ashamed,
because the Lord All-Powerful will rule as king on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s leaders will see his greatness.

Isaiah 25

A Song of Praise to God

1 Lord, you are my God. I honor you and praise you,
because you have done amazing things. You have always done what you said you would do; you have done what you planned long ago.

2 You have made the city a pile of rocks and have destroyed her walls.
The city our enemies built with strong walls is gone; it will never be built again.

3 People from powerful nations will honor you; cruel people from strong cities will fear you.

4 You protect the poor; you protect the helpless when they are in danger.
You are like a shelter from storms, like shade that protects them from the heat.
The cruel people attack like a rainstorm beating against the wall,

5 like the heat in the desert.
But you, God, stop their violent attack. As a cloud cools a hot day, you silence the songs of those who have no mercy.

God’s Banquet for His Servants

6 The Lord All-Powerful will prepare a feast on this mountain for all people.
It will be a feast with all the best food and wine, the finest meat and wine.

7 On this mountain God will destroy the veil that covers all nations,
the veil that stretches over all peoples;

8 he will destroy death forever.
The Lord God will wipe away every tear from every face. He will take away the shame of his people from the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

9 At that time people will say, “Our God is doing this!
We have waited for him, and he has come to save us. This is the Lord. We waited for him,
so we will rejoice and be happy when he saves us.”

10 The Lord will protect Jerusalem, but he will crush our enemy Moab
like straw that is trampled down in the manure.

11 They will spread their arms in it like a person who is swimming.
But God will bring down their pride, and all the clever things they have made will mean nothing.

12 Moab’s high walls protect them, but God will destroy these walls.
He will throw them down to the ground, even to the dust.

Isaiah 26

A Song of Praise to God

1 At that time people will sing this song in Judah:
We have a strong city. God protects us with its strong walls and defenses.

2 Open the gates, and the good people will enter, those who follow God.

3 You, Lord, give true peace to those who depend on you, because they trust you.

4 So, trust the Lord always, because he is our Rock forever.

5 He will destroy the proud city, and he will punish the people living there.
He will bring that high city down to the ground and throw it down into the dust.

6 Then those who were hurt by the city will walk on its ruins; those who were made poor by the city will trample it under their feet.

7 The path of life is level for those who are right with God; Lord, you make the way of life smooth for those people.

8 But, Lord, we are waiting for your way of justice.
Our souls want to remember you and your name.

9 My soul wants to be with you at night, and my spirit wants to be with you at the dawn of every day.
When your way of justice comes to the land, people of the world will learn the right way of living.

10 Evil people will not learn to do good even if you show them kindness.
They will continue doing evil, even if they live in a good world; they never see the Lord’s greatness.

11 Lord, you are ready to punish those people, but they do not see that.
Show them your strong love for your people. Then those who are evil will be ashamed.
Burn them in the fire you have prepared for your enemies.

12 Lord, all our success is because of what you have done, so give us peace.

13 Lord, our God, other masters besides you have ruled us, but we honor only you.

14 Those masters are now dead; their ghosts will not rise from death.
You punished and destroyed them and erased any memory of them.

15 Lord, you multiplied the number of your people; you multiplied them and brought honor to yourself.
You made the borders of the land wide.

16 Lord, people remember you when they are in trouble; they say quiet prayers to you when you punish them.

17 Lord, when we are with you, we are like a woman giving birth to a baby; she cries and has pain from the birth.

18 In the same way, we had pain. We gave birth, but only to wind.
We don’t bring salvation to the land or make new people for the world.

19 Your people have died, but they will live again; their bodies will rise from death.
You who lie in the ground, wake up and be happy!
The dew covering you is like the dew of a new day; the ground will give birth to the dead.

Judgment: Reward or Punishment

20 My people, go into your rooms and shut your doors behind you.
Hide in your rooms for a short time until God’s anger is finished.

21 The Lord will leave his place to punish the people of the world for their sins.
The earth will show the blood of the people who have been killed; it will not cover the dead any longer.