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Isaiah 24:18
ESV He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
NIV Whoever flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit; whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare. The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake.
NASB Then it will be that the one who flees the sound of terror will fall into the pit, And the one who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare; For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake.
CSB Whoever flees at the sound of panic will fall into a pit, and whoever escapes from the pit will be caught in a trap. For the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.
NLT Those who flee in terror will fall into a trap, and those who escape the trap will be caught in a snare. Destruction falls like rain from the heavens; the foundations of the earth shake.
KJV And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
NKJV And it shall be That he who flees from the noise of the fear Shall fall into the pit, And he who comes up from the midst of the pit Shall be caught in the snare; For the windows from on high are open, And the foundations of the earth are shaken.

What does Isaiah 24:18 mean?

So far Isaiah has been presenting an oracle against the entire earth. This has detailed the Lord's judgment to come on humanity for our sinful rebellion against Him (Isaiah 24:1–13). Yet amidst all the destruction, some have come to faith in Christ. These new believers sing praise to their redeemer from the ends of the earth, even in this dark era (Isaiah 24:14–16).

However, the Lord will not hold back His final judgment of the earth. New believers in these final days have a secure resting place in eternity with God. The rest of humanity's survivors have only the earth to trust in, and the Lord is turning the earth against them.

Isaiah has given ominous warnings about the dangers to come (Isaiah 24:17). Here, he repeats the concepts just mentioned as if they were literal traps. In that word picture, people run in terror from something they can hear, but likely cannot see. Panic prevents them from seeing that they are running headlong into something even worse: the pit. Some who fall in manage to crawl out, but they are caught in yet another trap. Whatever this final combination of terror, pit, and snare is, there will be no escape for those under the Lord's judgment.

Scripture provides few details about what these things are. However, there are hints. The "windows of heaven are open," suggesting downpours of rain. Perhaps this onslaught of rainfall will bring floods and turn once-solid earth into unreliable muck. At the same time, the prophet suggests earthquakes (Isaiah 24:19) that will make the ground even more unstable. The earth itself will become unreliable, leaving those who remain with nowhere to turn for safety.
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