Isaiah 5:11-22

Woe to those who start drinking early in the morning, lingering late into the night to get drunk with wine. Their lavish parties are complete with the music of harps and flutes—and the wine flows! Yet they have no respect for what YAHWEH has done, nor do they contemplate the work of his hands! Therefore, my people go into exile for lack of understanding. Their leaders are starving, their multitudes parched with thirst. The shadowy realm of death grows thirsty for souls and opens its mouth even wider to drink in the people! It gulps down the leaders of Jerusalem, along with their noisy, boasting crowds! The people will be humiliated, all of humanity humbled, and the arrogant will be brought low. With justice the Lord YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, displays his greatness, and righteousness sets him apart as the holy God. Then lambs will graze, as if in their own pastures, and the refugee will eat in the ruins of the rich. Woe to those who drag behind them their guilt with ropes made of lies — straining and tugging, harnessed to their bondage! They say, “May God hurry up and bring his judgment so that we can see it once and for all! Let the prophetic plan of the Holy One of Israel quickly come to pass so that we can see what it is!” Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who replace darkness with light and light with darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and see themselves as clever and shrewd. Woe to the champion wine drinkers who are heroes in mixing strong drinks