Isaiah 5:14-23 - Compare All Versions

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Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers. So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled. But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts. Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich. Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes, to those who say, “Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel— let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.” 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. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.

Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her. Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich. Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, who say: “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!” 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! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!

The grave is licking its lips in anticipation, opening its mouth wide. The great and the lowly and all the drunken mob will be swallowed up. Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation. But the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will be exalted by his justice. The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness. In that day lambs will find good pastures, and fattened sheep and young goats will feed among the ruins. What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart! They even mock God and say, “Hurry up and do something! We want to see what you can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan, for we want to know what it is.” What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever. What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold. They take bribes to let the wicked go free, and they punish the innocent.

Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens wide its enormous jaws,  and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses, her crowds, and those who celebrate in her! Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled, and haughty eyes are humbled.  But the LORD of Armies is exalted by his justice,  and the holy God  demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.  Lambs will graze as if in  their own pastures,  and resident aliens  will eat among the ruins of the rich. Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of deceit  and pull sin along with cart ropes, to those who say, “Let him hurry up and do his work quickly so that we can see it! Let the plan  of the Holy One of Israel  take place so that we can know it! ” Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,  who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever.  , Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are champions at pouring beer,  who acquit the guilty for a bribe  and deprive the innocent of justice.

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. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: but the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: 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! 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! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself And opened its mouth beyond measure; Their glory and their multitude and their pomp, And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it. People shall be brought down, Each man shall be humbled, And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness. Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture, And in the waste places of the fat ones strangers shall eat. Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope; 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 near and come, That we may know it.” 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! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!

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. 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.” 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! Doom to you who think you’re so smart, who hold such a high opinion of yourselves! All you’re good at is drinking—champion boozers who collect trophies from drinking bouts And then line your pockets with bribes from the guilty while you violate the rights of the innocent.

Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth beyond measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her noise of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it. So the common people will be humbled and the person of importance brought low, The eyes of the haughty also will be brought low. But the LORD of armies will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the ruins of the wealthy. ¶Woe to those who drag wrongdoing with the cords of deceit, And sin as if with cart ropes; 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!” Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink, Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

Therefore Sheol (the realm of the dead) has increased its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her [boisterous] uproar and her [drunken] revelers descend into it. So the common man will be bowed down and the man of importance degraded, And the eyes of the proud (arrogant) will be degraded. But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in justice, And God, the Holy One, will show Himself holy in righteousness [through His righteous judgments]. Then the lambs will graze [among the ruins] as in their own pasture, And strangers will eat in the desolate places of the [exiled] wealthy. ¶Woe (judgment is coming) to those who drag along wickedness with cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes [towing their own punishment]; Who say, “Let Him move speedily, let Him expedite His work [His promised vengeance], so that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel approach And come to pass, so that we may know it!” Woe (judgment is coming) to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever and shrewd in their own sight! Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are heroes at drinking wine And men of strength in mixing intoxicating drinks, Who justify the wicked and acquit the guilty for a bribe, And take away the rights of those who are in the right!

So Death will open up its throat, and open wide its mouth; Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it, including those who revel and celebrate within her. Men will be humiliated, they will be brought low; the proud will be brought low. The LORD who commands armies will be exalted when he punishes, the sovereign God’s authority will be recognized when he judges. Lambs will graze as if in their pastures, amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze. Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, who pull sin as with cart ropes. They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, so we can see; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take shape and come to pass, then we will know it!” Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, those who think they possess understanding. Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks. They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent.