Isaiah 5:8-30
Christian Standard Bible
Judah’s Sins Denounced
8 Woe to those who add house to house(A)
and join field to field
until there is no more room
and you alone are left in the land.
9 I heard the Lord of Armies say:
Indeed, many houses(B) will become desolate,
grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.
10 For a ten-acre[a] vineyard will yield
only six gallons of wine,[b]
and ten bushels[c] of seed will yield
only one bushel of grain.[d]
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of beer,(C)
who linger into the evening,
inflamed by wine.
12 At their feasts they have lyre, harp,
tambourine, flute, and wine.
They do not perceive the Lord’s actions,(D)
and they do not see the work of his hands.(E)
13 Therefore my people will go into exile
because they lack knowledge;(F)
her[e] dignitaries are starving,
and her masses are parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws,(G)
and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses,
her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!
15 Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled,
and haughty eyes are humbled.(H)
16 But the Lord of Armies is exalted by his justice,(I)
and the holy God(J) demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.(K)
17 Lambs will graze
as if in[f] their own pastures,(L)
and resident aliens[g] will eat
among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who drag iniquity
with cords of deceit(M)
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19 to those who say,
“Let him hurry up and do his work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan(N) of the Holy One of Israel(O) take place
so that we can know it!”
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,(P)
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to those who consider themselves wise
and judge themselves clever.[h](Q)
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are champions at pouring beer,(R)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe(S)
and deprive the innocent of justice.
24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected(T)
the instruction of the Lord of Armies,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.(U)
25 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned(V) against his people.
He raised his hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,(W)
and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.(X)
26 He raises a signal flag for the distant nations(Y)
and whistles(Z) for them from the ends of the earth.
Look—how quickly and swiftly they come!
27 None of them grows weary or stumbles;(AA)
no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose
and no sandal strap broken.
28 Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows strung.
Their horses’ hooves are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion’s;(AB)
they roar like young lions;(AC)
they growl and seize their prey
and carry it off,
and no one can rescue it.
30 On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds.[i]
Jeremiah 9:17-21
Christian Standard Bible
Mourning over Judah
17 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Consider, and summon the women who mourn;(A)
send for the skillful women.
18 Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us
so that our eyes may overflow with tears,
our eyelids be soaked with weeping.
19 For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion:
How devastated we are.
We are greatly ashamed,(B)
for we have abandoned the land;
our dwellings have been torn down.
20 Now hear the word of the Lord, you women.
Pay attention to[a] the words from his mouth.
Teach your daughters a lament
and one another a dirge,
21 for Death(C) has climbed through our windows;
it has entered our fortresses,
cutting off children from the streets,
young men from the squares.
Footnotes
- 9:20 Lit Your ears must receive
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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