Woe to the Wicked

8  Woe to those who ejoin house to house,

who add field to field,

until there is no more room,

and you are made to dwell alone

in the midst of the land.

9  The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:

f“Surely many houses shall be desolate,

large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.

10  gFor ten acres4 of vineyard shall yield but one bath,

and a hhomer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”5

11  Woe to those who irise early in the morning,

that they may run after strong drink,

who tarry late into the evening

as wine inflames them!

12  jThey have lyre and harp,

tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,

kbut they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,

or see the work of his hands.

13  Therefore my people go into exile

lfor lack of knowledge;6

their mhonored men go hungry,7

and their multitude is parched with thirst.

14  Therefore Sheol has nenlarged its appetite

and opened oits mouth beyond measure,

and the nobility of Jerusalem8 and her multitude will go down,

her revelers and he who pexults in her.