Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Isaiah 24

Isaiah portrays an earth collapsing under human disobedience, with judgment reaching every rank and power before YHWH reigns in glory.

YHWH empties the earth and scatters its inhabitants in Isaiah’s vision of judgment. Every social rank faces the same ruin. The prophecy addresses the earth’s inhabitants, linking their devastation to broken laws and covenant. An unnamed city loses its music and joy, while scattered survivors praise God from distant lands. The prophetic speaker responds with distress over continuing treachery. The vision closes with judgment on heavenly powers and earthly kings, followed by YHWH’s reign in Jerusalem.

fear for the futureinjustice and angersermon or Bible study notes
Read
1Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants.
2It will be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest.
3The earth will be utterly emptied and utterly laid waste; for the LORD has spoken this word.
4The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish.
5The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.
6Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
7The new wine mourns. The vine languishes. All the merry-hearted sigh.
8The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends. The joy of the harp ceases.
9They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it.
10The confused city is broken down. Every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
11There is a crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is darkened. The mirth of the land is gone.
12The city is left in desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction.
13For it will be so within the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.
14These shall lift up their voice. They will shout for the majesty of the LORD. They cry aloud from the sea.
15Therefore glorify the LORD in the east, even the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea!
16From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs. Glory to the righteous! But I said, “I pine away! I pine away! woe is me!” The treacherous have dealt treacherously. Yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.
17Fear, the pit, and the snare are on you who inhabit the earth.
18It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the middle of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
19The earth is utterly broken. The earth is torn apart. The earth is shaken violently.
20The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again.
21It will happen in that day that the LORD will punish the army of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth.
22They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; and after many days they will be visited.
23Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of Armies will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem; and glory will be before his elders.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 24:23The closing vision places YHWH’s glorious reign over Jerusalem beyond the downfall of earthly kings and heavenly powers.
Isaiah 24:1The opening announcement identifies YHWH as the agent of judgment and establishes its earthwide scope.
Isaiah 24:5Human violation of God’s laws and covenant explains the earth’s pollution and the curse that follows.
Where this chapter reaches

Genesis shares the imagery of opened heavenly windows in judgment, while Jeremiah shares the sequence of fear, pit, and snare that leaves fugitives without escape. Revelation shares scenes of cosmic upheaval, judgment on kings, and divine glory surpassing the light of the sun and moon.

Isaiah 24's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do the silenced music and deserted streets reveal about the scope of this judgment?

Write on this

How does the speaker’s distress alongside distant songs of praise shape your reading of the chapter?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Isaiah 24

What is the everlasting covenant in Isaiah 24:5?

The verse names an everlasting covenant without identifying a particular covenant or listing its terms. Its earthwide setting has led readers to connect it with God’s covenant with Noah in Genesis. That connection is plausible, but the chapter’s explicit emphasis is humanity’s breach of God’s laws and covenant obligations.

Is Isaiah 24 about the end of the world?

Isaiah 24 describes judgment on a cosmic scale: the earth breaks apart, heavenly powers and kings face punishment, and YHWH reigns in Jerusalem. These features support reading it as a vision of final judgment. The chapter supplies no date or detailed timetable, and its poetic images should be read as prophetic imagery.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Isaiah 24. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Isaiah · 66 chapters
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566
What the Bible says about fear →What the Bible says about anger →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).