Jamieson, Fausset and Brown on Isaiah 24:17

17. This verse explains the wretchedness spoken of in Is 24:16. Jeremiah (Jr 48:43, 44) uses the same words. They are proverbial; Is 24:18 expressing that the inhabitants were nowhere safe; if they escaped one danger, they fell into another, and worse, on the opposite side (Am 5:19). "Fear" is the term applied to the cords with feathers of all colors which, when fluttered in the air, scare beasts into the pitfall, or birds into the snare. Horsley makes the connection. Indignant at the treatment which the Just One received, the prophet threatens the guilty land with instant vengeance.