The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

 1 Behold, the Lord maketh the ^aearth ^bempty, and maketh it waste, and ^cturneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

 2 And 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 ^abuyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with ^bthe taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

 3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.

 4 The earth ^amourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, ^bthe haughty people of the earth do languish.

 5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have ^atransgressed the laws, ^bchanged the ^cordinance, ^dbroken the ^eeverlasting ^fcovenant.

 6 Therefore hath the ^acurse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the ^binhabitants of the earth are ^cburned, and ^dfew men left.

 7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.

 8 The mirth of ^atabrets ^bceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

 9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong ^adrink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

 10 The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

 11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all ^ajoy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.

 12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

 13 ¶When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the ^apeople, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.

 14 ^aThey shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea.

 15 Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the ^afires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea.

 16 ¶From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, ^aMy leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, ^bthe treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

 17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

 18 And 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.

 19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is ^amoved exceedingly.

 20 The ^aearth 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.

 21 And it shall come to pass in that ^aday, that the Lord shall ^bpunish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

 22 And they shall be gathered together, as ^aprisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the ^bprison, and after many days shall they be ^cvisited.

 23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ^aashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount ^bZion, and in Jerusalem, and before ^chis ancients gloriously.