From the extremity of the land there are melodies that we have heard: ‘Decoration to the Righteous One!’”​—Isaiah 24:13-16a.

they will praise God because they have been preserved, and they will sing: “Decoration to the Righteous One!”

15, 16. (a) How does Isaiah feel about what will happen to his people? (b) What will befall the unfaithful inhabitants of the land?

¹⁵ For now, though, rejoicing is premature. Isaiah brings his contemporaries back to the present, stating: “But I say: ‘For me there is leanness, for me there is leanness! Woe to me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously. Even with treachery the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously.’

Isaiah 24:16b

¹⁶ Isaiah is filled with grief over what will befall his people. The state of affairs around him causes feelings of sickness and woe. Treacherous ones abound and cause dread to the inhabitants of the land. When Jehovah withdraws his protection, unfaithful inhabitants of Judah will experience terror both day and night. They will be uncertain of their lives. There will be no escaping the disaster that will befall them for forsaking Jehovah’s commandments and ignoring godly wisdom. (Proverbs 1:24-27) Calamity will come even though treacherous ones in the land, trying to convince the people that everything will be all right, use falsehood and deceit to lead them on a course to destruction. (Jeremiah 27:9-15)

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Isaiah is filled with grief over what will befall his people