Isaiah 5:20-21
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
20 Ah, you who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21 Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes,
and shrewd in your own sight!
Isaiah 5:20-21
Authorized (King James) Version
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes,
and prudent in their own sight!
Isaiah 5:20-21
New English Translation
20 Beware, those who call evil good and good evil,[a]
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter.[b]
21 Beware, those who think they are wise,[c]
those who think they possess understanding.[d]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 5:20 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who call.” See the note at v. 8.
- Isaiah 5:20 sn In this verse the prophet denounces the perversion of moral standards. Darkness and bitterness are metaphors for evil; light and sweetness symbolize uprightness.
- Isaiah 5:21 tn Heb “the wise in their own eyes.”
- Isaiah 5:21 tn Heb “[who] before their faces are understanding ones.”sn Verses 18-21 contain three “woe-sayings” that are purely accusatory and have no formal announcement of judgment attached (as in the “woe-sayings” recorded in vv. 8-17). While this lack of symmetry is odd, it has a clear rhetorical purpose. Having established a pattern in vv. 8-17, the prophet deviates from it in vv. 18-21 to grab his audience’s attention. By placing the “woes” in rapid succession and heaping up the accusatory elements, he highlights the people’s guilt and introduces an element of tension and anticipation. One is reasonably certain that judgment will come, and when it does, it will be devastating. This anticipated devastation is described in frightening detail after the sixth and final woe (see vv. 22-30).
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