1 Behold, Jehovah empties the earth and makes it bare, and distorts its face, and scatters its inhabitants.
2 And as it is with the people, so it shall be with the priest; as with the servant, so with the master; as with the maid, so it is 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 debtor.
3 The land shall be completely emptied, and utterly plundered; for Jehovah has spoken this Word.
4 The earth mourns and fades away; the world droops and fades away; the haughty people of the earth grow feeble.
5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and have broken the perpetual covenant.
6 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are held guilty; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
7 The new wine mourns, the vine droops, all the merry-hearted sigh.
8 The mirth of the tambourines ceases; the tumult of the jubilant ends; the joy of the harp ceases.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of emptiness is broken down; every house is shut up so that no one may come in.
11 There is a cry for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land has gone.
12 Desolation is left in the city, and the gate is battered and destroyed.
13 For so it is in the midst of the land among the people. It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree, and as gleanings of grapes when the vintage has been finished.
14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of Jehovah, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Therefore glorify Jehovah in the light of the fire, the name of the Lord Jehovah of Israel from the seashores.
16 From the ends of the earth we have heard songs, glory to the righteous. But I said, Leanness to me! Leanness to me! Woe to me! Deceivers deceive, even with treachery. Deceivers deceive!
17 Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall be that he who flees from the sound of terror shall fall into the pit. And he who comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth quake.
19 The earth has been badly broken! The earth is split open and cracked through! The earth has shaken greatly and is tottering!
20 Like a drunkard the earth is staggering back and forth! And it sways to and fro like a hut! Its transgressions have been heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah will punish the host of the haughty ones on high; and on earth, the kings of the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered, as prisoners are gathered in a dungeon. And they shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days they shall be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be abashed, and the sun shall be ashamed, when Jehovah of Hosts shall reign on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, and before His elders, in splendor.