Isaiah 5:18-25

New American Standard Bible

¹⁸ Woe to those who drag ^(A)wrongdoing with the cords of ^[a]deceit,
And sin as if with cart ropes;
^19 (B)Who say, “Let Him hurry, let Him do His work quickly, so that we may see it;
And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach
And come to pass, so that we may know it!”
²⁰ Woe to those who ^(C)call evil good, and good evil;
Who ^[b](D)substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who ^[c]substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
²¹ Woe to those who are ^(E)wise in their own eyes
And ^[d]clever in their own sight!
^22 (F)Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine,
And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink,
^23 (G)Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe,
And ^(H)take away the ^[e]rights of the ones who are in the right!

²⁴ Therefore, ^(I)as a tongue of fire consumes stubble,
And dry grass collapses in the flame,
So their ^(J)root will become ^(K)like rot, and their blossom ^[f]blow away like dust;
For they have ^(L)rejected the Law of the Lord of armies,
And discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵ For this reason the ^(M)anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them.
And the ^(N)mountains quaked, and their ^(O)corpses ^[g]lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
^(P)Despite all this, His anger ^[h]is not spent,
But His ^(Q)hand is still stretched out.