24
1 Hinei, Hashem maketh Ha'Aretz empty, and maketh it waste,
and ruineth her face,
and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
2 And it shall be,
as with HaAm, so with the kohen;
as with the eved, so with his adonim;
as with the shifcha (maid), so with her gevirah (mistress);
as with the koneh (buyer), so with the mokher (seller);
as with the malveh (lender), so with the loveh (borrower);
as with the nosheh (creditor), so with the one owing him.
3 HaAretz shall be utterly emptied,
and utterly plundered;
for Hashem hath spoken this davar (word).
4 Ha'aretz mourneth and fadeth away,
the tevel (world) languisheth and fadeth away,
the haughty Am HaAretz do languish.
5 Ha'aretz also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof;
because they have transgressed torot,
changed chok (ordinance),
broken the Brit Olam.
6 Therefore hath the curse devoured Eretz,
and they that dwell therein are guilty; therefore,
the inhabitants of her* are diminished,
and few enosh (humankind) left.
7 The tirosh (new wine) faileth, the gefen languisheth,
all the simchei-lev (merryhearted) do sigh.
8 The mirth of tambourines ceaseth,
the noise of them that rejoice endeth,
the joy of the kinnor (harp) ceaseth.
9 They shall not drink yayin with a shir (song);
shechar (liquor, strong drink) shall be bitter to them that drink it.
10 The city of tohu is broken;
every bais is shut up, that no man may come in.
11 There is a crying for yayin in the streets;
all simchah is darkened,
the mirth of HaAretz is banished.
12 In the Ir is left desolation,
and the sha'ar is stricken with ruination.
13 When thus it shall be in the midst of HaAretz
among the nations, there shall be as the shaking of a zayit (olive tree),
and as the olelot (gleanings) when the grape harvest is done.
14 They shall lift up their kol (voice), they shall sing,
for the Ga'on (Glory) of Hashem, they shall shout from the yam.
15 Therefore glorify ye Hashem in the Urim (east),
even the Shem Hashem Elohei Yisroel in the iyyim (islands)† of the yam.
16 From the uttermost part of Ha'Aretz have we heard zemirot (songs),
even glory to the Tzaddik (Righteous One).
But I said, My wasting away,
my wasting away, Oy li (woe unto me)!
The bogedim (traitors) have dealt treacherously;
the bogedim have dealt very treacherously.
17 Pachad (fear), and the pachat (pit), and the pach (pitfall, snare),
are upon thee, O inhabitant of Ha'Aretz.
18 And it shall come to pass,
that he who fleeth from the noise of the pachad
shall fall into the pachat;
and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pachat
shall be caught in the pach;
for the arubot (windows [see Gn 7:11]) from on high are opened,
and the Mosedei Eretz (foundations of the Earth) do shake.
19 Ha'aretz is violently broken down,
Ha'Aretz is completely split open,
Eretz is shaken exceedingly.
20 Ha'aretz shall stagger to and fro like a shikkor (drunkard),
and shall shake like a melunah (watchmanʼs hut);
and the peysha (transgression) thereof shall be heavy upon it;
and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in yom hahu (that day),
that Hashem shall visit [in punishment]
the Tzeva HaMarom (Host on High, Pagan deities),
and the melachim of ha'adamah (kings of the earth)
upon ha'adamah (the earth).
22 And they shall be gathered together,
as asir (prisoners) are gathered in the bor (dungeon, pit),
and shall be shut up in the masger (prison, dungeon),
and after many yamim shall they be visited [in punishment].
23 Then the levanah (moon) shall be disgraced,
and the chammah (sun) ashamed,
when Hashem Tzva'os shall reign
in Har Tziyon, and in Yerushalayim,
and before His Zekenim gloriously.
* 24:6 the earth † 24:15 See Isa 42:4