8 Woe unto them that add house to house, that join field to field, until there is no more room, and that ye dwell yourselves alone in the midst of the land! 9 In mine ears Jehovah of hosts [hath said], Many houses shall assuredly become a desolation, great and excellent ones, without inhabitant. 10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah. 11 Woe unto them that, rising early in the morning, run after strong drink; that linger till twilight, [till] wine inflameth them! 12 And harp and lyre, tambour and flute, and wine are in their banquets; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, nor do they see the operation of his hands. 13 Therefore my people are led away captive from lack of knowledge, and their nobility die of famine, and their multitude are parched with thirst. 14 Therefore doth Sheol enlarge its desire, and open its mouth without measure; and her splendour shall descend [into it], and her multitude, and her tumult, and [all] that is joyful within her. 15 And the mean man shall be bowed down, and the great man brought low, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low; 16 and Jehovah of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God hallowed in righteousness. 17 And the lambs shall feed as on their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as with cart-ropes! 19 who say, Let him hasten, let him speed his work, that we may see [it]; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! 20 Woe unto them 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! 21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent in their own esteem! 22 Woe unto them that are mighty for drinking wine, and men valiant to mix strong drink; 23 who justify the wicked for a bribe, and turn away the righteousness of the righteous from them!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 5:8-23
Commentary on Isaiah 5:8-23
(Read Isaiah 5:8-23)
Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities. Those who set their hearts upon the world, will justly be disappointed. Here is woe to those who dote upon the pleasures and the delights of sense. The use of music is lawful; but when it draws away the heart from God, then it becomes a sin to us. God's judgments have seized them, but they will not disturb themselves in their pleasures. The judgments are declared. Let a man be ever so high, death will bring him low; ever so mean, death will bring him lower. The fruit of these judgments shall be, that God will be glorified as a God of power. Also, as a God that is holy; he shall be owned and declared to be so, in the righteous punishment of proud men. Those are in a woful condition who set up sin, and who exert themselves to gratify their base lusts. They are daring in sin, and walk after their own lusts; it is in scorn that they call God the Holy One of Israel. They confound and overthrow distinctions between good and evil. They prefer their own reasonings to Divine revelations; their own devices to the counsels and commands of God. They deem it prudent and politic to continue profitable sins, and to neglect self-denying duties. Also, how light soever men make of drunkenness, it is a sin which lays open to the wrath and curse of God. Their judges perverted justice. Every sin needs some other to conceal it.