Isaiah 3:12-5:23

English Standard Version

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

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

²⁴ Instead of ^(S)perfume there will be rottenness;
    and instead of a ^(T)belt, a rope;
and instead of ^(U)well-set hair, ^(V)baldness;
    and instead of a rich robe, a ^(W)skirt of sackcloth;
    and ^(X)branding instead of beauty.
²⁵ Your men shall fall by the sword
    and your mighty men in battle.
²⁶ And ^(Y)her gates shall lament and mourn;
    empty, she shall ^(Z)sit on the ground.

³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
^4 (AU)What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
^(AV)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 ^(AW)its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;^[d]
(AX)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 ^(AY)briers and thorns shall grow up;
^(AZ)I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.

^7 (BA)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;^[e]
for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry!^[f]

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

¹³ Therefore my people go into exile
    ^(BI)for lack of knowledge;^[i]
their ^(BJ)honored men go hungry,^[j]
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Sheol has ^(BK)enlarged its appetite
    and opened ^(BL)its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem^[k] and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who ^(BM)exults in her.
^15 (BN)Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty^[l] are brought low.
^16 (BO)But the Lord of hosts is exalted^[m] in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
¹⁷ Then shall the lambs graze ^(BP)as in their pasture,
    and ^(BQ)nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

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