Isaiah 5:8-30

8Woe to those who 1add house to house and join field to field, Until there is no more room, So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!9In my ears the Lord of hosts has sworn, “Surely, 2many houses shall become 3desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants.10For 4ten acres of vineyard will yield only one 5bath of wine, And a 6homer of seed will yield but an 7ephah of grain.”11Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue 8strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!12Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and 9harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they 10do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

13Therefore My people go into exile for their 11lack of knowledge; And 12their 13honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.14Therefore 14Sheol has enlarged its 15throat and opened its mouth without measure; And 16Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.15So the common man will be humbled and the man of importance abased, 17The eyes of the proud also will be abased.16But the 18Lord of hosts will be 19exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself 20holy in righteousness.1721Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the 22wealthy.

18Woe to those who drag 23iniquity with the cords of 24falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;1925Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!”20Woe to those who 26call evil good, and good evil; Who 2728substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who 29substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!21Woe to those who are 30wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!2231Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,2332Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And 33take away the 34rights of the ones who are in the right!

24Therefore, 35as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their 36root will become 37like rot and their blossom 38blow away as dust; For they have 39rejected the law of the Lord of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.25On this account the 40anger of the Lord has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down. And the 41mountains quaked, and their 42corpses 43lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. 44For all this His anger 45is not spent, But His 46hand is still stretched out.

26He will also lift up a 47standard to the 48distant nation, And will 49whistle for it 50from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will 51come with speed swiftly.2752No one in it is weary or stumbles, None slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the 53belt at its waist undone, Nor its sandal strap broken.285455Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses 56seem like flint and its chariot 57wheels like a whirlwind.29Its 58roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it 59seizes the prey And carries it off with 60no one to deliver it.30And it will 61growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one 62looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.