1. See! The Lord is about to empty the earth and lay it waste;he will twist its surface,and scatter its inhabitants:
2. People and priest shall fare alike:servant and master,Maid and mistress,buyer and seller,Lender and borrower,creditor and debtor.
3. The earth shall be utterly laid waste, utterly stripped,for the Lord has decreed this word.
4. The earth mourns and fades,the world languishes and fades;both heaven and earth languish.
5. The earth is polluted because of its inhabitants,for they have transgressed laws, violated statutes,broken the ancient covenant.
6. Therefore a curse devours the earth,and its inhabitants pay for their guilt;Therefore they who dwell on earth have dwindled,and only a few are left.
7. The new wine mourns, the vine languishes,all the merry-hearted groan.
8. Stilled are the cheerful timbrels,ended the shouts of the jubilant,stilled the cheerful harp.
9. They no longer drink wine and sing;strong brew is bitter to those who drink it.
10. Broken down is the city of chaos,every house is shut against entry.
11. In the streets they cry out for lack of wine;all joy has grown dim,cheer is exiled from the land.
12. In the city nothing remains but desolation,gates battered into ruins.
13. For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth,among the peoples,As when an olive tree has been beaten,as with a gleaning when the vintage is done.
14. These shall lift up their voice,they shall sing for joy in the majesty of the Lord,they shall shout from the western sea:
15. “Therefore, in the eastgive glory to the Lord!In the coastlands of the sea,to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel!”
16. From the end of the earth we hear songs:“Splendor to the Just One!”But I said, “I am wasted, wasted away.Woe is me! The traitors betray;with treachery have the traitors betrayed!
17. Terror, pit, and trapfor you, inhabitant of the earth!
18. One who flees at the sound of terrorwill fall into the pit;One who climbs out of the pitwill be caught in the trap.For the windows on high are openand the foundations of the earth shake.
19. The earth will burst asunder,the earth will be shaken apart,the earth will be convulsed.
20. The earth will reel like a drunkard,sway like a hut;Its rebellion will weigh it down;it will fall, never to rise again.”
21. On that day the Lord will punishthe host of the heavens in the heavens,and the kings of the earth on the earth.
22. They will be gathered togetherlike prisoners into a pit;They will be shut up in a dungeon,and after many days they will be punished.
23. Then the moon will blushand the sun be ashamed,For the Lord of hosts will reignon Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,glorious in the sight of the elders.