1Look, Yahweh is about to make the earth empty and lay it waste. He will turn it upside down and scatter its inhabitants.
2It will be the same for everyone: for the people and the priest, for the servant and the master, for the maid and her mistress, for the buyer and the seller, for the one who lends money and the one who borrows, for the one who charges interest and the one who pays it.
3The earth will be completely emptied and utterly ruined, because Yahweh has said it will be.
4The earth is sad and dying. The world is weak and dying. The most important people on earth are weak.
5The earth is also defiled by the people who live on it, because they have disobeyed the laws, violated the rules, and broken the lasting agreement.
6That is why a curse has consumed the earth, and those who live in it are found guilty. As a result, the people of the earth are burned up, and only a few people are left.
7The new wine is scarce. The grapevines are dying. All the happy people are sighing.
8The joyful sound of tambourines stops. The sound of people celebrating ends. The happy music of the harp stops.
9They will not drink wine while singing. Alcoholic drinks will taste bitter to those who drink them.
10The chaotic city is broken down. Every house is shut up, so no one can enter.
11There is crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is gone. The happiness of the land has vanished.
12The city is left in ruins, and its gate is shattered with destruction.
13For this is how it will be throughout the earth among the nations: like shaking an olive tree, like the few leftovers after the grape harvest is done.
14These people will raise their voices. They will shout about the majesty of Yahweh. From the sea, they cry out loudly.
15Therefore, give glory to Yahweh in the east; glorify the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea!
16From the farthest parts of the earth, we hear songs: "Glory to the Righteous One!" But I said, "I waste away! I waste away! How terrible for me! The traitors have betrayed. Yes, the traitors have been very treacherous."
17Fear, a pit, and a trap await you who live on the earth.
18It will happen that whoever flees from the sound of fear will fall into the pit; and whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For the windows in the sky are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake.
19The earth is completely broken. The earth is torn apart. The earth is violently shaken.
20The earth will stagger like a drunk man and sway back and forth like a swinging bed. Its disobedience will weigh heavily on it, and it will fall and not rise again.
21On that day, Yahweh will punish the powers above and the kings of the earth below.
22They will be rounded up like prisoners gathered in a dungeon and locked away in prison. After many days, they will be punished.
23Then the moon will be confused and the sun ashamed, for Yahweh of Armies will rule on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his elders will see his glory.