Isaiah 5:8–17

Social Injustice Denounced

⁸Woe to those who join house to house,

who add field to field,

until there is room for no one,

and you are left to live alone

in the midst of the land!^*

⁹The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:

Surely many houses shall be desolate,

large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.^*

¹⁰For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,

and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.^i*

¹¹Woe to those who rise early in the morning

in pursuit of strong drink,

who linger in the evening

to be inflamed by wine,^*

¹²whose feasts consist of lyre and harp,

tambourine and flute and wine,

but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord

or see the work of his hands!^*

¹³Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge;

their nobles are dying of hunger,

and their multitude is parched with thirst.^*

¹⁴Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite

and opened its mouth beyond measure;

the nobility of Jerusalem^j and her multitude go down,

her throng and all who exult in her.^*

¹⁵People are bowed down, everyone is brought low,

and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.^*

¹⁶But the Lord of hosts is exalted by justice,

and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.^*

¹⁷Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture;

fatted calves and kids^k shall feed among the ruins.