Isaiah 5:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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!

NIV: 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.

NASB: 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!

CSB: 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.

NLT: 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.

KJV: 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!

NKJV: 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!

The next "woe" is for those in Israel who see sin and consequences as if looking through a mirror. They have reversed what is evil and what is good. This is one of the many ways of sin. We might engage in sin with the understanding that we are doing something wrong, telling ourselves it is only once or only for a short time. Through this action, the root of that sin begins to grow and we begin to believe the lie. What we once knew as evil becomes normal. To continue to embrace it, we must eventually twist the truth we once knew to convince ourselves that the sin is healthy and right. To maintain our belief in that lie, we must supplant our previous understanding of good with this lie that has taken root. And the sin grows.

Sin doesn't just lie to us. It makes us experts in lying to ourselves. We develop conviction and passion that wrong is right, black is white, and up is down. The modern world is filled with examples of cultures who defend sins condemned in Scripture, while condemning the godliness described in the Bible. When society tolerates evil, that's bad. When society begins defending sins as if they were morally good, and condemning moral goodness as evil, it's a catastrophe (Proverbs 14:34).

The people of Judah and Jerusalem came to see faithfulness to God as an obstacle to personal happiness. His restrictions kept them from gaining the personal success false "gods" promised. The Lord's commands to care for others restricted their comfortable lifestyles. To their eyes, the poor were poor for a reason. They thought it unnatural to upset the order of things by elevating the poor or defending their cause.

Isaiah 5:8–30 contains Isaiah's dire predictions about the upcoming judgment of Israel. The first "woes" are to the greedy and the pleasure-seeking drinkers. They will go into exile and to the grave for refusing to acknowledge God. The Lord then will be exalted for restoring justice and righteousness. The next woes are to those who embrace sin and mock the coming judgment. These are also those people who have mixed evil and good and believe they know better than God. The final listed woes are those who make it a point of pride how much alcohol they can drink, as well as how they can work the system with bribes. The Lord will summon the armies of the nations to bring judgment on His people.

Isaiah 5 begins with a parable about a farmer who builds a vineyard that produces sour grapes. The owner says he will lay waste to the vineyard. Isaiah reveals the owner to be the Lord and the vineyard to be Israel. Israel's bad fruit includes the greed of the wealthy and the hedonism of the people. They will go hungry and thirsty, into exile, and the grave. The Lord will be exalted for His righteousness. Isaiah pronounces woe on the sinners, the mockers, and the unjust rulers. The Lord will summon the nations to judge His people.

Early chapters (Isaiah 1—4) established a prophetic message given to the people of Israel. Isaiah 5 begins a new section with a parable about a vineyard that produces wild grapes despite all the work the owner has done. The vineyard is Israel, and the owner is the Lord. He will lay waste to the vineyard for the greed and drunkenness of the people. They will go into exile and the grave. The Lord will be exalted, but woe to those who embrace sin, and mock God's judgment. As well as those who take bribes against the poor. He has summoned the nations. Judgment is coming. The next chapter includes one of the Bible's most famous visions (Isaiah 6).

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).