Isaiah 24:5

The earth is defiled by ¹  its inhabitants, ²  for they have violated laws, disregarded the regulation, ³  and broken the permanent treaty. ⁴ 

The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.

The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.

The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted the instructions of God, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant.

Earth is polluted by its very own people, who have broken its laws, Disrupted its order, violated the sacred and eternal covenant.

The earth has been made unclean by those living in it; because the laws have not been kept by them, the orders have been changed, and the eternal agreement has been broken.

The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.

The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant.

The earth is defiled by ¹  its inhabitants, ²  for they have violated laws, disregarded the regulation, ³  and broken the permanent treaty. ⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”

² sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.

³ tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”

⁴ tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”

sn For a lengthy discussion of the identity of this covenant/treaty, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In this context, where judgment comes upon both the pagan nations and God’s covenant community, the phrase “permanent treaty” is intentionally ambiguous. For the nations this treaty is the Noahic mandate of Gen 9:1-7 with its specific stipulations and central regulation (Gen 9:7). By shedding blood, the warlike nations violated this treaty, which promotes population growth and prohibits murder. For Israel, which was also guilty of bloodshed (see Isa 1:15, 21; 4:4), this “permanent treaty” would refer more specifically to the Mosaic Law and its regulations prohibiting murder (Exod 20:13; Num 35:6-34), which are an extension of the Noahic mandate.