Isaías 24

BLIVRE · Chapter 24/66

1Eis que o SENHOR esvazia a terra, e a assola; e transtorna sua superfície, e espalha seus moradores.

2E [isso] acontecerá, tanto ao povo, como ao sacerdote; tanto ao servo, como a seu senhor; tanto à serva, como a sua senhora; tanto ao comprador, como ao vendedor; tanto a quem empresta, como ao que toma emprestado; tanto ao credor, como ao devedor.

3A terra será esvaziada por completo, e será saqueada por completo; pois o SENHOR pronunciou esta palavra.

4A terra chora [e] se murcha; o mundo enfraquece [e] se murcha; estão enfraquecidos os mais elevados do povo da terra;

5Pois a terra está contaminada por causa de seus moradores; pois transgridem as leis, mudam os estatutos, [e] anulam o pacto eterno.

6Pois isso, a maldição consome a terra; e os que nela habitam pagam por sua culpa; por isso serão queimados os moradores da terra, e poucos homens restarão.

7O suco de uva chora, a vinha se enfraquece; todos os alegres de coração [agora] suspiram.

8A alegria dos tamborins parou, acabou o ruído dos que saltavam de prazer; a alegria da harpa parou.

9Não beberão vinho com canções; a bebida alcoólica será amarga aos que a beberem.

10A cidade da confusão está quebrada; todas as casas estão fechadas; ninguém pode entrar.

11Um clamor de lamento por causa do vinho [se ouve] nas ruas; toda a alegria se escureceu; o prazer da terra sumiu.

12[Só] restou assolação na cidade; o portão foi feito em ruínas.

13Porque assim será por entre a terra, e no meio destes povos; como quando se sacode a oliveira, [e] como as uvas que sobram depois de terminada a vindima.

14Eles levantarão sua voz, e cantarão com alegria; por causa da glória do SENHOR, gritarão de alegria desde o mar.

15Por isso glorificai ao SENHOR no oriente; [e] no litoral ao nome do SENHOR, o Deus de Israel.

16Dos confins da terra ouvimos canções [para] a glória do Justo; mas eu digo: Fraqueza minha, fraqueza minha; ai de mim! Os enganadores enganam, e com enganação os enganadores agem enganosamente.

17Temor, cova e laço [vem] sobre ti, ó morador da terra.

18E será que, aquele que fugir do som de temor cairá na cova; e aquele que subir da cova, o laço o prenderá; pois as janelas do alto se abrem; e os fundamentos da terra tremerão.

19A terra será quebrada por completo; a terra será totalmente partida, e será muito abalada.

20A terra balançará como um bêbado; e será abalada como uma choupana; e sua transgressão pesará sobre ela; cairá, e nunca mais se levantará.

21E será que naquele dia o SENHOR visitará [para punir] aos exércitos do alto na altura, e aos reis da terra sobre a terra.

22E juntamente serão amontoados [como] presos numa masmorra; e serão encarcerados num cárcere; e muitos dias depois serão visitados.

23E a lua será envergonhada, e o sol humilhado, quando o SENHOR dos exércitos reinar no monte de Sião, e em Jerusalém; e então perante seus anciãos [haverá] glória.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Isaiah describes a cosmic, universal judgment: the whole earth will be emptied and laid waste because of human corruption, which 'broke the everlasting covenant.' Despite the total desolation, a group of faithful people will continue praising God from the ends of the earth.

Explanation

This chapter begins a section scholars know as the 'Isaiah Apocalypse' (chapters 24-27), with language more universal and cosmic than the specific prophecies against nations in the previous chapters. The idea of a broken 'everlasting covenant' probably refers to the basic moral laws given to humanity (as in Genesis 9, with Noah), suggesting that moral corruption affects all creation, not just one nation. The image of 'the windows from on high' opening and the earth 'reeling like a drunkard' uses language of total chaos, reflecting how sin destabilizes even the natural order. The application for today is recognizing that a society's moral choices have consequences that go beyond the individual, affecting the whole community and even creation itself.

Fun facts

  • The expression 'everlasting covenant' (v.5) probably refers back to God's covenant with Noah in Genesis 9:16, the oldest and most universal divine commitment recorded with all of humanity, not just Israel.
  • Scholars call chapters 24 through 27 the 'Little Apocalypse of Isaiah' for their visionary, universal style, similar to what would later appear in Daniel and Revelation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 24:1Unlike the previous chapters, which targeted specific nations, this chapter speaks of a judgment on the whole earth. That is why it is often called Isaiah’s little apocalypse, looking beyond any one particular empire.
  2. Isaías 24:2The coming destruction will spare no one because of social status: priest and people, servant and master, buyer and seller, lender and borrower — all will suffer the same fate equally.
  3. Isaías 24:3Confirms that the earth will be completely emptied and plundered, and that this is not just any threat, but a word the LORD Himself has spoken.
  4. Isaías 24:4The whole earth is described as mourning and withering away, and even the most important among the people lose their strength — the devastation reaches both the environment and the highest-status people.
  5. Isaías 24:5Saying that the people have broken the “everlasting covenant” is a serious accusation: breaking not just specific laws, but the very pact understood as the foundation of world order. The text does not specify exactly which covenant, and this is still debated among scholars today.
  6. Isaías 24:6As a result of the moral corruption described in the previous verse, a curse consumes the earth, its inhabitants suffer, many are burned, and only a small group survives.
  7. Isaías 24:7New wine, a symbol of feasting and abundance, loses its joy, and everyone who used to be cheerful now sighs with sadness.
  8. Isaías 24:8All music and celebration cease: tambourines silenced, festivities ended, harps stopped — the complete opposite of a society at play.
  9. Isaías 24:9Even drinking wine loses its charm, with no more songs to go along with it, and strong drink turns bitter to those who drink it — the natural joy of drinking turns into something unpleasant.
  10. Isaías 24:10The city, once bustling, appears demolished and empty, with every house shut up and no one able to enter anymore.
  11. Isaías 24:11In the streets, there is only crying over the lack of wine, and all joy has disappeared from the land — the economic and social devastation reaches even the simplest everyday pleasures.
  12. Isaías 24:12Only desolation remains in the city, and even the gates are smashed to pieces — an image of complete structural abandonment.
  13. Isaías 24:13Compares what is left of the population to olives left over after the tree is shaken, or grapes forgotten after the harvest — a very small remnant scattered among the peoples.
  14. Isaías 24:14But even this small remnant will lift up their voice in joy, singing for the majesty of the LORD from the sea — an unexpected turn of hope in the middle of devastation.
  15. Isaías 24:15Continues the call: let God be glorified both in the valleys and in the farthest islands of the sea, reaching every corner of the earth.
  16. Isaías 24:16From distant corners come songs of praise to the Righteous One, but the prophet himself interrupts with a personal lament: he feels himself wasting away, because treachery continues among the treacherous, even in the midst of this hope.
  17. Isaías 24:17Describes the inevitable fate of those who live on the earth: terror, the pit, and the snare will overtake them, like a triple trap that no one easily escapes.
  18. Isaías 24:18Whoever flees from one danger will fall straight into another — from terror to the pit, from the pit to the snare — because even the floodgates of heaven open and the foundations of the earth shake, reinforcing the total cosmic judgment.
  19. Isaías 24:19The earth is described as being utterly broken, split apart, and shaken — three different verbs reinforcing the same idea of total destruction.
  20. Isaías 24:20The earth staggers like a drunk and sways like a hut in the wind — an image of total instability, unable to stand under the weight of its own sin, falling to never rise again.
  21. Isaías 24:21The “host of the high ones” alongside the kings of the earth combine powers the ancients saw as heavenly with human powers in the same judgment. It is a way of saying that no one escapes, gathered together like ordinary prisoners in a dungeon.
  22. Isaías 24:22The defeated powers, mentioned in the previous verse, are gathered together like prisoners in a dungeon, shut up, and only after many days will they be “visited” again — a judgment that stretches on before the final resolution.
  23. Isaías 24:23Ends the chapter with an image of glory so great it outshines even the moon and the sun: when the LORD reigns in Zion and Jerusalem, His glory will be so evident that the very stars seem dim by comparison.

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