1. Look! The lord is about to destroy the earthand make it a vast wasteland.He devastates the surface of the earthand scatters the people.
2. Priests and laypeople,servants and masters,maids and mistresses,buyers and sellers,lenders and borrowers,bankers and debtors—none will be spared.
3. The earth will be completely emptied and looted.The lord has spoken!
4. The earth mourns and dries up,and the land wastes away and withers.Even the greatest people on earth waste away.
5. The earth suffers for the sins of its people,for they have twisted God’s instructions,violated his laws,and broken his everlasting covenant.
6. Therefore, a curse consumes the earth.Its people must pay the price for their sin.They are destroyed by fire,and only a few are left alive.
7. The grapevines waste away,and there is no new wine.All the merrymakers sigh and mourn.
8. The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled;the happy cries of celebration are heard no more.The melodious chords of the harp are silent.
9. Gone are the joys of wine and song;alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.
10. The city writhes in chaos;every home is locked to keep out intruders.
11. Mobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine.Joy has turned to gloom.Gladness has been banished from the land.
12. The city is left in ruins,its gates battered down.
13. Throughout the earth the story is the same—only a remnant is left,like the stray olives left on the treeor the few grapes left on the vine after harvest.
14. But all who are left shout and sing for joy.Those in the west praise the lord’s majesty.