¹Se, HERREN gør Jorden tom og øde og vender op og ned på dens Overflade, han spreder dens Beboere;

¹Lo, Jehovah is emptying the land, And is making it waste, And hath overturned [it on] its face, And hath scattered its inhabitants.

²det går Lægfolk som Præst, Træl som Herre, Trælkvinde som Frue, Køber som Sælger, Långiver som Låntager, Ågerkarl som Skyldner.

²And 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.

³Jorden tømmes og plyndres i Bund og Grund, thi HERREN har talet dette Ord.

³Utterly emptied is the land, and utterly spoiled, For Jehovah hath spoken this word:

⁴Jorden blegner og segner, Jorderig sygner og segner, Jordens Højder sygner hen.

⁴Mourned, faded hath the land, Languished, faded hath the world, Languished have they — the high place of the people of the land.

⁵Vanhellig blev Jorden under dem, som bor der, thi Lovene krænked de, overtrådte Budet, brød den evige Pagt.

⁵And 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.

⁶Derfor fortærer Forbandelse Jorden, og bøde må de, som bor der. Derfor svides Jordens Beboere bort, kun få af de dødelige levnes.

⁶Therefore 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.

⁷Druesaften sørger, Vinranken sygner alle de hjertensglade sukker;

⁷Mourned hath the new wine, languished the vine, Sighed have all the joyful of heart.

⁸Håndpaukens Klang er endt, de jublendes Larm hørt op, endt er Citrens Klang.

⁸Ceased hath the joy of tabrets, Ceased hath the noise of exulting ones, Ceased hath the joy of a harp.

⁹De drikker ej Vin under Sang, besk smager den stærke Drik.

⁹With a song they drink not wine, Bitter is strong drink to those drinking it.

¹⁰Den øde Stad ligger nedbrudt, stængt er hver Boligs Indgang.

¹⁰It was broken down — a city of emptiness, Shut hath been every house from entrance.

¹¹Man jamrer over Vinen på Gaden, bort er al Glæde svundet; landflygtig er Landets Fryd.

¹¹A cry over the wine [is] in out-places, Darkened hath been all joy, Removed hath been the joy of the land.

¹²I Byen er Øde tilbage, og Porten er hugget i Splinter.

¹²Left in the city [is] desolation, And [with] wasting is the gate smitten.

¹³Thi på Jorden midt iblandt Folkene går det, som når Olietræets Frugt slås ned, som ved Efterslæt, når Vinen er høstet:

¹³When thus it is in the heart of the land, In the midst of the peoples, As the compassing of the olive, As gleanings when harvest hath been finished,

¹⁴Disse opløfter Røsten, jubler over HERRENs Storhed, råber fra Vesten:

¹⁴They — they lift up their voice, They sing of the excellency of Jehovah, They have cried aloud from the sea.

¹⁵"Derfor skal I ære HERREN i Østen, på Havets Strande HERRENs, Israels Guds, Navn!"

¹⁵Therefore in prosperity honour ye Jehovah, In isles of the sea, the name of Jehovah, God of Israel.

¹⁶Fra Jordens Grænse hører vi Lovsange: "Hil den retfærdige!" Men jeg siger: Jeg usle, jeg usle, ve mig, Ransmænd raner, Ransmænd raner Ran,

¹⁶From the skirt of the earth we heard songs, The desire of the righteous. And I say, `Leanness [is] to me, Leanness [is] to me, wo [is] to me.` Treacherous dealers dealt treacherously, Yea, treachery, treacherous dealers dealt treacherously.

¹⁷Gru og Grav og Garn over dig, som bor på Jorden!

¹⁷Fear, and a snare, and a gin, [Are] on thee, O inhabitant of the land.

¹⁸Den, der flygter for Gru, skal falde i Grav, og den, der når op af Grav, skal fanges i Garn. Thi Sluserne oventil åbnes, og Jordens Grundvolde vakler.

¹⁸And it hath come to pass, He who is fleeing from the noise of the fear Doth fall into the snare, And he who is coming up from the midst of the snare, Is captured by the gin, For windows on high have been opened, And shaken are foundations of the land.

¹⁹Jorden smuldrer og smuldrer, Jorden gynger og gynger, Jorden skælver og skælver;

¹⁹Utterly broken down hath been the land, Utterly broken hath been the land, Utterly moved hath been the land.

²⁰Jorden raver og raver som drukken og svajer som Vogterens Hytte; tungt ligger dens Brøde på den, den segner og rejser sig ikke.

²⁰Stagger greatly doth the land as a drunkard, And it hath been moved as a lodge, And heavy on it hath been its transgression, And it hath fallen, and addeth not to rise.

²¹På hin Dag hjemsøger HERREN Himlens Hær i Himlen og Jordens Konger på Jorden.

²¹And it hath come to pass, in that day, Jehovah layeth a charge on the host of the high place in the high place, And on the kings of the land on the land.

²²De slæbes i Fængsel som Fanger, holdes under Lås og Lukke og straffes lang Tid efter.

²²And they have been gathered — A gathering of bound ones in a pit, And shut up they have been in a prison, And after a multitude of days are inspected.

²³Månen blues og Solen skæmmes, thi Hærskarers HERRE viser, han er Konge på Zions Bjerg, i Jerusalem; for hans Ældstes Øjne er Herlighed.

²³And confounded hath been the moon, And ashamed hath been the sun, For reigned hath Jehovah of Hosts In mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, And over-against His elders — honour!