_The Judgment upon the Earth._--CHAP. XXIV.
1. Behold, Jehovah emptieth the earth, and layeth it waste, and
marreth its form, and scattereth all its inhabitants. 2. And it
happeneth, as to the people, so to the priest; as to the servant, so
to his master; as to the maid, so to her mistress; as to the buyer,
so to the seller; as to the lender, so to the borrower; as to the
creditor, so to the debtor. 3. Emptying the earth is emptied, and
plundering is plundered: for Jehovah hath spoken this word.
4. Smitten down, withered up is the earth; pined away, wasted is the
world; pined away have they, the foremost of the people of the earth.
5. And the earth has become wicked among its inhabitants; for they
transgressed revelations, set at naught the ordinance, broke the
everlasting covenant. 6. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth,
and they who dwelt in it make expiation: therefore are the
inhabitants of the earth withered up, and there are very few mortals
left. 7. New wine mourneth, vine is parched, all the merry-hearted
groan. 8. The joyous playing of tabrets is silent; the noise of them
that rejoice hath ceased; the joyous playing of the guitar is silent.
9. They drink no wine with a song: meth tastes bitter to them that
drink it.
10. The city of Tohu is broken to pieces; every house is shut up, so
that no man can come in. 11. There is lamentation for wine in the
fields; all rejoicing has set; the delight of the earth is banished.
12. What is left of the city is wilderness, and the gate was
shattered to ruins. 13. For so will it be within the earth, in the
midst of the nations; as at the olive-beating, as at the gleaning,
when the vintage is over.
14. They lift up the voice, and exult; for the majesty of Jehovah
they shout from the sea! 15. Therefore praise ye Jehovah in the lands
of the sun, in the islands of the sea the name of Jehovah the God of
Israel. 16. From the border of the earth we hear songs: Praise to the
Righteous One.
Then I said, Ruin to me! ruin to me! Robbers rob, and robbing, they
rob as robbers! 17. Horror, and pit, and snare are over thee, O
inhabitant of the earth! 18. And it cometh to pass, whoever fleeth
from the tidings of horror falleth into the pit; and whoever escapeth
out of the pit is caught in the snare: for the trap-doors on high are
opened, and the firm foundations of the earth shake. 19. The earth
rending, is rent asunder; the earth bursting, is burst in pieces; the
earth shaking, tottereth. 20. The earth reeling, reeleth like a
drunken man, and swingeth like a hammock; and its burden of sin
presseth upon it; and it falleth, and riseth not again.
21. And it cometh to pass in that day, Jehovah will visit the army of
the high place in the high place, and the kings of the earth on the
earth. 22. And they are imprisoned, as one imprisons captives in the
pit, and shut up in prison; and in the course of many days they are
visited. 23. And the moon blushes, and the sun turns pale; for
Jehovah of hosts reigns royally upon mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and
before His elders in glory.