Major Prophets · Chapter 24 of 66
Isaiah 24
Isaiah widens from single nations to the whole earth. The Lord empties the world and turns it upside down, sparing no rank; priest and people, master and servant, share the same fate. The earth mourns because its inhabitants broke the everlasting covenant, so a curse devours it and joy ceases. Yet a remnant sings God's majesty from the coasts, and the chapter ends with the Lord of hosts reigning gloriously in Zion.
What happens in Isaiah 24
The oracle sweeps beyond individual nations to a global judgment. God empties the earth and scatters its inhabitants, and no station escapes: priest like people, master like servant, lender like borrower, all leveled. The earth mourns and fades because its people transgressed the laws and broke the everlasting covenant, so a curse devours it and few are left. All joy darkens; the mirth of harps ceases, wine turns bitter, the ruined city is shut up.
Yet amid desolation voices lift from the sea and the isles, singing for the majesty of the Lord. Isaiah warns that fear, the pit, and the snare await; the earth reels like a drunkard under its transgression. In that day the Lord punishes the powers on high and the kings of the earth, gathering them as prisoners into a pit. Finally the moon is confounded and the sun ashamed when the Lord of hosts reigns in Mount Zion before His elders in glory.
Isaiah 24 in context
Isaiah 24 through 27, often called Isaiah's Apocalypse, forms a climax to the oracles against the nations by expanding to universal, cosmic judgment and final salvation. Rather than naming one country, it speaks of the earth, the world, and the everlasting covenant given to humanity.
Its imagery of a shaken creation, imprisoned powers, and the Lord's reign in Zion anticipates later biblical apocalyptic, including the visions of Daniel and Revelation.
Main themes of Isaiah 24
Isaiah 24 (KJV)
1Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. 2And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. 3The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. 4The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. 5The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. 7The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. 8The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. 9They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. 10The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. 11There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. 12In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. 13When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. 14They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. 15Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. 16From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. 17Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. 18And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. 19The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 20The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 21And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 22And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. 23Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Verses to carry from Isaiah 24
“The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”Isaiah 24:5
“Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.”Isaiah 24:15
“Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.”Isaiah 24:23
Thematic connection
How Isaiah 24 points to Jesus
This chapter names no Messiah, so the link is thematic, yet its horizon runs toward the world that Christ will judge and renew. Jesus spoke of cosmic upheaval, the sun darkened and powers shaken, and the gathering of all before Him, echoing Isaiah's shaken earth and imprisoned kings. Revelation draws deeply on this vision of global judgment, a curse consuming the earth, powers punished, and God finally reigning in glory where sun and moon give way to His light.
Isaiah's promise that the Lord of hosts will reign in Mount Zion before His elders anticipates the throne of the Lamb and the new creation lit by God's presence. The everlasting covenant broken here awaits the new covenant sealed in Christ's blood. So the chapter frames the world's need for the King who both judges and saves.
Questions about Isaiah 24
Why does the judgment level every class of person?
Isaiah pairs priest with people, master with servant, rich with poor, to declare that no position shields anyone from God's judgment. Social advantage, religious office, and wealth cannot exempt a person when the Lord acts. The leveling reveals a sober truth: before the Creator, all human distinctions dissolve, and every inhabitant of the earth is equally accountable for how they kept faith with Him.
What is the everlasting covenant that humanity broke?
Isaiah reaches beyond Israel's law to an abiding moral order binding all people, echoing God's covenant with creation after the flood and the fundamental claim of the Creator on His world. Breaking it means transgressing His laws and changing His ordinances universally. The phrase explains why the whole earth, not just one nation, suffers: humanity as a whole has broken faith with its Maker, and creation groans under it.
Reflection
Isaiah lifts your eyes from local troubles to the whole earth under God's hand, where no status exempts anyone. Yet notice the songs rising from the isles even in judgment. Let both realities shape you: sober reverence for the God who judges the world, and worship that praises His majesty even now.
A prayer from Isaiah 24
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