Isaiah 5:18-30

New American Standard Bible

¹⁸Woe 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!”
²⁰Woe 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!
²¹Woe 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!

²⁴Therefore, ^(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.
²⁵For 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.

²⁶He will also lift up a ^(R)flag to the distant ^[i]nation,
And ^(S)whistle for it ^(T)from the ends of the earth;
And behold, it will ^(U)come with speed swiftly.
²⁷^(V)No one in it is tired or stumbles,
No one slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the ^(W)undergarment at his waist loosened,
Nor his sandal strap broken.
²⁸^[j]^(X)Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;
The hoofs of its horses ^[k]seem like flint, and its chariot ^(Y)wheels like a storm wind.
²⁹Its ^(Z)roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;
It growls as it ^(AA)seizes the prey
And carries it off with ^(AB)no one to save it.
³⁰And it will ^(AC)roar against it on that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one ^(AD)looks across to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.