Isaiah 2:6-5:30

English Standard Version

^12 (N)For the Lord of hosts has a day
    against all that is proud and lofty,
    against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
¹³ against all the ^(O)cedars of Lebanon,
    lofty and lifted up;
    and against all the ^(P)oaks of Bashan;
¹⁴ against all ^(Q)the lofty mountains,
    and against all the uplifted hills;
¹⁵ against every high tower,
    and against every fortified wall;
¹⁶ against all ^(R)the ships of Tarshish,
    and against all the beautiful craft.
^17 (S)And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
    and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
    and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
^18 (T)And the idols shall utterly pass away.
^19 (U)And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
    and the holes of the ground,^[a]
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    ^(V)when he rises to terrify the earth.

²⁰ In that day ^(W)mankind will cast away
    their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
    to the moles and to the ^(X)bats,
^21 (Y)to enter the caverns of the rocks
    and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    ^(Z)when he rises to terrify the earth.
^22 (AA)Stop regarding man
    ^(AB)in whose nostrils is breath,
    for of what account is he?

⁶ For ^(AH)a man will take hold of his brother
    in the house of his father, saying:
“You have a cloak;
    you shall be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
    shall be under your rule”;
⁷ in that day he will speak out, saying:
“I will not be a ^(AI)healer;^[d]
    in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
you shall not make me
    leader of the people.”
⁸ For Jerusalem has stumbled,
    and Judah has fallen,
because their ^(AJ)speech and their deeds are against the Lord,
    ^(AK)defying his glorious presence.^[e]

⁹ For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
    they proclaim their sin ^(AL)like Sodom;
    they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
    ^(AM)For they have brought evil on themselves.
^10 (AN)Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
    ^(AO)for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
^11 (AP)Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
    for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
¹² My people—^(AQ)infants are their oppressors,
    and women rule over them.
O my people, ^(AR)your guides mislead you
    and they have swallowed up^[f] the course of your paths.

¹³ The Lord ^(AS)has taken his place to contend;
    he stands to judge peoples.
¹⁴ The Lord will enter into judgment
    with the ^(AT)elders and princes of his people:
“It is you who ^(AU)have devoured^[g] the vineyard,
    ^(AV)the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
¹⁵ What do you mean by ^(AW)crushing my people,
    by grinding the face of the poor?”
declares the Lord God of hosts.

¹⁶ The Lord said:
^(AX)Because ^(AY)the daughters of Zion are haughty
    and walk with outstretched necks,
    glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
    ^(AZ)tinkling with their feet,
¹⁷ therefore the Lord ^(BA)will strike with a scab
    the heads of ^(BB)the daughters of Zion,
    and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.

²⁴ Instead of ^(BI)perfume there will be rottenness;
    and instead of a ^(BJ)belt, a rope;
and instead of ^(BK)well-set hair, ^(BL)baldness;
    and instead of a rich robe, a ^(BM)skirt of sackcloth;
    and ^(BN)branding instead of beauty.
²⁵ Your men shall fall by the sword
    and your mighty men in battle.
²⁶ And ^(BO)her gates shall lament and mourn;
    empty, she shall ^(BP)sit on the ground.

³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
^4 (CK)What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
^(CL)When I looked for it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?

⁵ And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove ^(CM)its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;^[i]
(CN)I will break down its wall,
    and it shall be trampled down.
⁶ I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and ^(CO)briers and thorns shall grow up;
^(CP)I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.

^7 (CQ)For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;^[j]
for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry!^[k]

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

¹³ Therefore my people go into exile
    ^(CY)for lack of knowledge;^[n]
their ^(CZ)honored men go hungry,^[o]
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Sheol has ^(DA)enlarged its appetite
    and opened ^(DB)its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem^[p] and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who ^(DC)exults in her.
^15 (DD)Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty^[q] are brought low.
^16 (DE)But the Lord of hosts is exalted^[r] in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
¹⁷ Then shall the lambs graze ^(DF)as in their pasture,
    and ^(DG)nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

¹⁸ Woe to those who draw iniquity with ^(DH)cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
¹⁹ who say: ^(DI)“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 ^(DJ)those who call evil good
    and good evil,
^(DK)who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!
²¹ Woe to those who are ^(DL)wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!
²² Woe to those who are ^(DM)heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
²³ who ^(DN)acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

²⁴ Therefore, ^(DO)as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so ^(DP)their root will be ^(DQ)as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have ^(DR)rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
    and have ^(DS)despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵ Therefore ^(DT)the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and ^(DU)the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were ^(DV)as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
^(DW)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

²⁶ He will ^(DX)raise a signal for nations far away,
    and ^(DY)whistle for them ^(DZ)from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
^27 (EA)None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
^28 (EB)their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels ^(EC)like the whirlwind.
²⁹ Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and ^(ED)seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and none can rescue.
³⁰ They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
    behold, ^(EE)darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.