24:1 Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth

and leave it in ruins;

he will mar its surface

and scatter its inhabitants.

24:2 Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people, ¹ 

the master as well as the servant, ² 

the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, ³ 

the seller as well as the buyer, ⁴ 

the borrower as well as the lender, ⁵ 

the creditor as well as the debtor. ⁶ 

24:3 The earth will be completely devastated

and thoroughly ransacked.

For the Lord has decreed this judgment. ⁷ 

24:4 The earth ⁸  dries up ⁹  and withers,

the world shrivels up and withers;

the prominent people of the earth ¹⁰  fade away.

24:5 The earth is defiled by ¹¹  its inhabitants, ¹² 

for they have violated laws,

disregarded the regulation, ¹³ 

and broken the permanent treaty. ¹⁴ 

24:6 So a treaty curse ¹⁵  devours the earth;

its inhabitants pay for their guilt. ¹⁶ 

This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear, ¹⁷ 

and are reduced to just a handful of people. ¹⁸