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He will shatter its face
and scatter its inhabitants.
2 It will be the same—
as for the people, so for the priest; as for the servant, so for his master; as for the maid, so for her mistress; as for the buyer, so for the seller; as for the lender, so for the borrower; as for the creditor, so for the debtor.
3 The earth will be completely laid waste
and totally plundered;”
for the Lord has spoken this word.
4 The earth mourns and withers;
the world languishes and withers;
the exalted people of the earth waste away.
5 The earth is defiled by its inhabitants;
they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
and broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore a curse has devoured the earth,
and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
the inhabitants of the earth are burned up,
and few people survive.
7 The new wine fails and the vine withers;
all the merrymakers groan.
8 The mirth of the tambourines have ceased,
the noise of the revellers has ended,
the joy of the harp has ceased.
9 No longer do they drink wine with singing;
strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of chaos is broken down;
every house is closed up so no one can enter.
11 In the streets they cry out for wine;
all joy has turned to gloom;
all gaiety is removed from the earth.
12 Only desolation remains in the city;
its gates are smashed to pieces.
13 So will it be on the earth
and among the nations:
as when an olive tree is beaten;
as when but few gleanings remain after the grape harvest ends.
14 They raise their voices, they sing for joy;
from the west they proclaim with a shout
the majesty of the Lord.
15 Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;
honour the name of the Lord, the God of Israel,
in the coastlands of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth we hear singing;
“Glory to the Righteous One.”
But I said, “I waste away, I waste away!
Woe is me!
The treacherous deal treacherously;
the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
17 Terror and the pit and the snare await you,
O people of the earth.
18 All this will come to pass:
Whoever flees at the sound of terror,
will fall into a pit;
whoever escapes from the pit,
will be caught in the snare.
For the windows of heaven will be opened,
and the foundations of the earth will be shaken.
19 The earth is completely broken down;
the earth is torn asunder;
the earth is thoroughly shaken.
20 The earth staggers like a drunkard,
it sways like a hut.
The weight of its transgressions lies on it so heavily,
that it falls, never to rise again.
21 On that day the Lord will punish
the hosts in the heavens above,
and the kings of the earth below.
22 They will be gathered together,
like prisoners in a pit.
They will be shut up in prison,
and after many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be abashed,
and the sun ashamed;
for the Lord of Hosts will reign
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before His elders in glory.