1Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth
and leaves it in ruins.
He will twist its surface
and scatter its inhabitants —
2people and priest alike, servant and master,
maid and mistress, buyer and seller,
lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.
3The earth will be utterly laid waste
and thoroughly plundered.
4The earth mourns and withers;
the world languishes and fades;
the exalted of the earth waste away.
5The earth is defiled by its people;
they have transgressed the laws;
they have overstepped the decrees
and broken the everlasting covenant.
— Isaiah 24:1-5