Isaiah 24:19-21

24:19 The earth is broken in pieces,

the earth is ripped to shreds,

the earth shakes violently. ¹ 

24:20 The earth will stagger around ²  like a drunk;

it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. ³ 

Its sin will weigh it down,

and it will fall and never get up again.

The Lord Will Become King

24:21 At that time ⁴  the Lord will punish ⁵ 

the heavenly forces in the heavens ⁶ 

and the earthly kings on the earth.

[24:19]  ¹ tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each lines ends with אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.

[24:20]  ² tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.

[24:20]  ³ tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[24:21]  ³ tn Or “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”

[24:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “the host of the height in the height.” The “host of the height/heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13).