PART IV.
finale on the great catastrophe.—chaps. xxiv.–xxvii.
The Judgment upon the Earth.—chap. xxiv.
1. Behold, Jehovah emptieth the earth, and layeth it waste, and marreth its form, and scattereth all its inhabitants. 2. And it happeneth, as to the people, so to the priest; as to the servant, so to his master; as to the maid, so to her mistress; as to the buyer, so to the seller; as to the lender, so to the borrower; as to the creditor, so to the debtor. 3. Emptying the earth is emptied, and plundering is plundered: for Jehovah hath spoken this word.
4. Smitten down, withered up is the earth; pined away, wasted is the world; pined away have they, the foremost of the people of the earth. 5. And the earth has become wicked among its inhabitants; for they transgressed revelations, set at naught the ordinance, broke the everlasting covenant. 6. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they who dwelt in it make expiation: therefore are the inhabitants of the earth withered up, and there are very few mortals left. 7. New wine mourneth, vine is parched, all the merry-hearted groan. 8. The joyous playing of tabrets is silent; the noise of them that rejoice hath ceased; the joyous playing of the guitar is silent. 9. They drink no wine with a song: meth tastes bitter to them that drink it.
10. The city of Tohu is broken to pieces; every house is shut up, so that no man can come in. 11. There is lamentation for wine in the fields; all rejoicing has set; the delight of the earth is banished. 12. What is left of the city is wilderness, and the gate was shattered to ruins. 13. For so will it be within the earth, in the midst of the nations; as at the olive-beating, as at the gleaning, when the vintage is over.
14. They lift up the voice, and exult; for the majesty of Jehovah they shout from the sea! 15. Therefore praise ye Jehovah in the lands of the sun, in the islands of the sea the name of Jehovah the God of Israel. 16. From the border of the earth we hear songs: Praise to the Righteous One.
Then I said, Ruin to me! ruin to me! Robbers rob, and robbing, they rob as robbers! 17. Horror, and pit, and snare are over thee, O inhabitant of the earth! 18. And it cometh to pass, whoever fleeth from the tidings of horror falleth into the pit; and whoever escapeth out of the pit is caught in the snare: for the trap-doors on high are opened, and the firm foundations of the earth shake. 19. The earth rending, is rent asunder; the earth bursting, is burst in pieces; the earth shaking, tottereth. 20. The earth reeling, reeleth like a drunken man, and swingeth like a hammock; and its burden of sin presseth upon it; and it falleth, and riseth not again.
21. And it cometh to pass in that day, Jehovah will visit the army of the high place in the high place, and the kings of the earth on the earth. 22. And they are imprisoned, as one imprisons captives in the pit, and shut up in prison; and in the course of many days they are visited. 23. And the moon blushes, and the sun turns pale; for Jehovah of hosts reigns royally upon mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders in glory.
the fourfold melodious echo.—chaps. xxv., xxvi.