Isaiah 5:20

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Isaiah pronounces a woe oracle against a segment of Judah's leadership, positioned between those who demand God's plan be rushed (v.19) and those who are wise in their own eyes (v.21).

The words — The verb שָׂם (sām, H7760, "to put/make") marks this as deliberate redefinition, not mere misperception. They are actively swapping the labels.

The thread — Proverbs 17:15 names the same inversion (acquitting the guilty, condemning the righteous) as detestable to the LORD; Luke 16:15 and 2 Timothy 3:1 frame it as a recurring pattern in the last days.

Why it lands — The verse asks the reader to check whether they have already done this: whether they have quietly renamed what is evil as good and called it wisdom.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

ה֣וֹיHowoe to!הָאֹמְרִ֥יםha./'o.me.Rimthose/ [who] say לָרַ֛עla./Ra'of <the>/ evil ט֖וֹבTovgood וְלַטּ֣וֹבve./la./Tovand/ of <the>/ good רָ֑עRa'evil שָׂמִ֨יםsa.Mim[those who] make חֹ֤שֶׁךְCho.shekhdarkness לְאוֹר֙le./'Orinto/ light וְא֣וֹרve./'orand/ light לְחֹ֔שֶׁךְle./Cho.shekhinto/ darkness שָׂמִ֥יםsa.Mim[those who] make מַ֛רmarbitter לְמָת֖וֹקle./ma.Tokinto/ sweet וּמָת֥וֹקu./ma.Tokand/ sweet לְמָֽר׃ סle./Marinto/ bitter

King James Version

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!

Cross-references

Proverbs 17:15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
2 Timothy 3:1 But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.
Luke 16:15 So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
Job 17:12 They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
Matthew 6:22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
Amos 5:7 There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
2 Peter 2:1 Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Peter 2:18 With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
Luke 11:34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body is full of darkness.