Isaiah 5:18-30

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹⁸ Woe to those who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood,
    who drag sin along as with cart ropes,^(A)
19 who say, “Let him make haste;
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment,
    that we may know it!”^(B)
20 Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!^(C)
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
    and shrewd in their own sight!^(D)
22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine
    and valiant at mixing drink,^(E)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe
    and deprive the innocent of their rights!^(F)

²⁵ Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them;
    the mountains quaked,
and their corpses were like refuse
    in the streets.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.^(H)

²⁶ He will raise a signal for a nation far away
    and whistle for a people at the ends of the earth.
Here they come, swiftly, speedily!^(I)
27 None of them is weary; none stumbles;
    none slumbers or sleeps;
not a loincloth is loose;
    not a sandal strap broken;^(J)
28 their arrows are sharp;
    all their bows strung;
their horses’ hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels like the whirlwind.^(K)
29 Their roaring is like a lion;
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and no one can rescue.^(L)
30 They will roar over it on that day,
    like the roaring of the sea.
And if one look to the land—
    only darkness and distress;
and the light grows dark with its clouds.^(M)