Isaiah 5:18–25

¹⁸Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit

and pull sin along with cart ropes,

¹⁹to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work

so that we may see it!

Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come

so that we may know it!”

²⁰Woe to those who call evil good

and good evil,

who turn darkness to light

and light to darkness,

who replace bitter with sweet

and sweet with bitter.

²¹Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes

and clever in their own sight.

²²Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine

and champions in mixing strong drink,

²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe

and deprive the innocent of justice.

²⁴Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw,

and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,

so their roots will decay

and their blossoms will blow away like dust;

for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts

and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people;

His hand is raised against them to strike them down.

The mountains quake,

and the corpses lie like refuse in the streets.

Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;

His hand is still upraised.