Isaiah 24:10-20

10 In the city everything is in chaos, and people lock themselves in their houses for safety.

11 People shout in the streets because there is no more wine. Happiness is gone forever; it has been banished from the land.

12 The city is in ruins, and its gates have been broken down.

13 This is what will happen in every nation all over the world. It will be like the end of harvest, when the olives have been beaten off every tree and the last grapes picked from the vines.

14 Those who survive will sing for joy. Those in the West will tell how great the Lord is,

15 and those in the East will praise him. The people who live along the sea will praise the Lord, the God of Israel.

16 From the most distant parts of the world we will hear songs in praise of Israel, the righteous nation. But there is no hope for me! I am wasting away! Traitors continue to betray, and their treachery grows worse and worse.

17 Listen to me, everyone! There are terrors, pits, and traps waiting for you.

18 Anyone who tries to escape from the terror will fall in a pit, and anyone who escapes from the pit will be caught in a trap. Torrents of rain will pour from the sky, and earth's foundations will shake.

19 The earth will crack and shatter and split open.

20 The earth itself will stagger like a drunk, sway like a hut in a storm. The world is weighed down by its sins; it will collapse and never rise again.

Isaiah 24:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 24

This chapter contains a prophecy of calamities that should come upon the whole world, and the inhabitants of it, for their sins; of the preservation of a remnant; of the visitation of the kings of the earth; and of the appearance of Christ in his glory and majesty. The miserable condition of the world, and its inhabitants, especially all within the Romish jurisdiction, is set forth by various phrases, Isa 24:1-4 the causes of which are the transgression and mutation of the laws and ordinances of Christ, Isa 24:5 the effects of which are the cursing and burning of the inhabitants, Isa 24:6 cessation of all joy among them, Isa 24:7-9 and the destruction of their chief city, Rome, Isa 24:10-12 then follows a prophecy of a remnant that shall escape, and be brought into a very comfortable condition, and sing for joy, and glorify God in the midst of the earth, and in the uttermost parts of it, Isa 24:13-16 but it is intimated it shall go ill with others for their perfidy and treachery; fear and danger shall attend them everywhere, Isa 24:16-18 yea, in the issue, the world shall be shaken, and moved and removed, and be utterly dissolved, fall and not rise more, Isa 24:19,20 when the kings and great ones of the earth shall be taken prisoners, and punished by the Lord, Isa 24:21,22 and then Christ shall take to himself his great power, and reign with his people gloriously in the New Jerusalem state, Isa 24:23.