13 Therefore My people go into exile for their (A)lack of knowledge;
And their [a](B)nobles are famished,
And their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore (C)Sheol has enlarged its [b]throat and opened its mouth beyond measure;
And [c]Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her noise of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it.
15 So the common people will be humbled and the person of importance brought low,
(D)The eyes of the haughty also will be brought low.
16 But the (E)Lord of armies will be (F)exalted in judgment,
And the holy God will show Himself (G)holy in righteousness.
17 (H)Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
And strangers will eat in the ruins of the [d]wealthy.

18 Woe to those who drag (I)wrongdoing with the cords of [e]deceit,
And sin as if with cart ropes;
19 (J)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 (K)call evil good, and good evil;
Who [f](L)substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who [g]substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:13 Lit glory is men of famine
  2. Isaiah 5:14 Or appetite
  3. Isaiah 5:14 Lit her
  4. Isaiah 5:17 Lit fat
  5. Isaiah 5:18 Or worthlessness
  6. Isaiah 5:20 Lit set
  7. Isaiah 5:20 Lit set

11-17 Doom to those who get up early
    and start drinking booze before breakfast,
Who stay up all hours of the night
    drinking themselves into a stupor.
They make sure their banquets are well-furnished
    with harps and flutes and plenty of wine,
But they’ll have nothing to do with the work of God,
    pay no mind to what he is doing.
Therefore my people will end up in exile
    because they don’t know the score.
Their “honored men” will starve to death
    and the common people die of thirst.
Sheol developed a huge appetite,
    swallowing people nonstop!
Big people and little people alike
    down that gullet, to say nothing of all the drunks.
The down-and-out on a par
    with the high-and-mighty,
Windbag boasters crumpled,
    flaccid as a punctured bladder.
But by working justice,
    God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be a mountain.
By working righteousness,
    Holy God will show what “holy” is.
And lambs will graze
    as if they owned the place,
Kids and calves
    right at home in the ruins.

18-19 Doom to you who use lies to sell evil,
    who haul sin to market by the truckload,
Who say, “What’s God waiting for?
    Let him get a move on so we can see it.
Whatever The Holy of Israel has cooked up,
    we’d like to check it out.”

20 Doom to you who call evil good
    and good evil,
Who put darkness in place of light
    and light in place of darkness,
Who substitute bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!

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13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

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!

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