Discovery BoxIsaiah 24:13 
Context24:13 This is what will happen throughout 1 the earth,
among the nations.
It will be like when they beat an olive tree,
and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest. 2
Isaiah 24:16
Context24:16 From the ends of the earth we 3 hear songs –
the Just One is majestic. 4
But I 5 say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!
Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” 6
1 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
2 sn The judgment will severely reduce the earth’s population. See v. 6.
3 sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.
4 tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.
5 sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.
6 tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”
tn Verse 16b is a classic example of Hebrew wordplay. In the first line (“I’m wasting away…”) four consecutive words end with hireq yod ( ִי); in the second line all forms are derived from the root בָּגַד (bagad). The repetition of sound draws attention to the prophet’s lament.
