In my ears Jehovah of armies has sworn that many houses, though great and good, will become an outright object of astonishment, without an inhabitant. For even ten acres of vineyard will produce but one bath measure, and even a homer measure of seed will produce but an ephah measure.”​—Isaiah 5:8-10.

¹⁹ Jehovah promises to strip these greedy ones of their ill-gotten gain. The houses they extort will be “without an inhabitant.” The lands they covet will produce a mere fraction of their capacity. Exactly how and when this curse will be fulfilled is not stated. Likely it refers, at least in part, to the conditions brought on by the future Babylonian exile.​—Isaiah 27:10.