19 People like that laugh at God. They say, ‘The Lord should do something quickly! We want to see what he can do. The Holy God of Israel should do what he has decided to do. Then we will really know what that is!’
20 It will be very bad for people who call evil things good. And they call good things evil. They say, ‘It is light,’ when it is dark. And they say, ‘It is dark,’ when it is light. They say that bitter things are sweet. And they say that sweet things are bitter.
21 It will be very bad for people who think that they are wise. They think that they are very clever.
22 It will be very bad for people who think that they are famous because they can drink a lot of wine. They think that they are very brave to mix strong drinks together.
23 If people like that receive a bribe, they will not say that wicked people are guilty. They also refuse to say that righteous people are not guilty.
24 Because of that, they will come to a bad end. It will be for them like a hot fire that destroys dry grass. Their roots will die and their flowers will blow away like dust. They have refused to obey the laws of the Lord Almighty. They have not listened to the message that the Holy God of Israel has taught them.
