241 Lo, Jehovah is emptying the land, And is making it waste, And hath overturned 'it on' its face, And hath scattered its inhabitants. 2 And it hath been—as a people so a priest, As the servant so his master, As the maid-servant so her mistress, As the buyer so the seller, As the lender so the borrower, As the usurer so he who is lifting 'it' on himself. 3 Utterly emptied is the land, and utterly spoiled, For Jehovah hath spoken this word: 4 Mourned, faded hath the land, Languished, faded hath the world, Languished have they—the high place of the people of the land. 5 And the land hath been defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed laws, They have changed a statute, They have made void a covenant age-during. 6 Therefore a curse hath consumed the land, And the inhabitants in it are become desolate, Therefore consumed have been inhabitants of the land, And few men have been left. 7 Mourned hath the new wine, languished the vine, Sighed have all the joyful of heart. 8 Ceased hath the joy of tabrets, Ceased hath the noise of exulting ones, Ceased hath the joy of a harp. 9 With a song they drink not wine, Bitter is strong drink to those drinking it. 10 It was broken down—a city of emptiness, Shut hath been every house from entrance. 11 A cry over the wine 'is' in out-places, Darkened hath been all joy, Removed hath been the joy of the land. 12 Left in the city 'is' desolation, And 'with' wasting is the gate smitten.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 24:1-12
Commentary on Isaiah 24:1-12
(Read Isaiah 24:1-12)
All whose treasures and happiness are laid up on earth, will soon be brought to want and misery. It is good to apply to ourselves what the Scripture says of the vanity and vexation of spirit which attend all things here below. Sin has turned the earth upside down; the earth is become quite different to man, from what it was when God first made it to be his habitation. It is, at the best, like a flower, which withers in the hands of those that please themselves with it, and lay it in their bosoms. The world we live in is a world of disappointment, a vale of tears; the children of men in it are but of few days, and full of trouble, See the power of God's curse, how it makes all empty, and lays waste all ranks and conditions. Sin brings these calamities upon the earth; it is polluted by the sins of men, therefore it is made desolate by God's judgments. Carnal joy will soon be at end, and the end of it is heaviness. God has many ways to imbitter wine and strong drink to those who love them; distemper of body, anguish of mind, and the ruin of the estate, will make strong drink bitter, and the delights of sense tasteless. Let men learn to mourn for sin, and rejoice in God; then no man, no event, can take their joy from them.