Woe to the Wicked

Woe to those who (A)join house to house,
    who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
    and you are made to dwell alone
    in the midst of the land.
The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
(B)“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 (C)For ten acres[a] of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
    and a (D)homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”[b]

11 Woe to those who (E)rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
12 (F)They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
(G)but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
    or see the work of his hands.

13 Therefore my people go into exile
    (H)for lack of knowledge;[c]
their (I)honored men go hungry,[d]
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has (J)enlarged its appetite
    and opened (K)its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem[e] and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who (L)exults in her.
15 (M)Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty[f] are brought low.
16 (N)But the Lord of hosts is exalted[g] in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze (O)as in their pasture,
    and (P)nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with (Q)cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: (R)“Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to (S)those who call evil good
    and good evil,
(T)who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are (U)wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are (V)heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who (W)acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:10 Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day
  2. Isaiah 5:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  3. Isaiah 5:13 Or without their knowledge
  4. Isaiah 5:13 Or die of hunger
  5. Isaiah 5:14 Hebrew her nobility
  6. Isaiah 5:15 Hebrew high
  7. Isaiah 5:16 Hebrew high

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