5:13 The result of driving other people off their land and living only for pleasure would be, ironically, that the Israelites would be driven off their land and enjoy little pleasure. Instead of more food and drink there would be famine and parched throats for all the people (cf. 3:16-24).64Carousing would end in captivity.
5:14-15 Instead of pleasure-seekers opening their throats to drink wine, Sheol (the place of the dead) would open her throat to drink down the Israelites. This divine punishment would befall all the people because they shared the pride that marked the property-hungry and the pleasure-mad (cf. 2:9). The offenders' actions showed that they really did not know Yahweh in any life-changing way; the knowledge of God had had no practical effect on the way they lived.
5:16-17 In contrast to the humiliation of the Israelite proud, Yahweh of armies would enjoy exaltation because what characterizes Him is the opposite of what marked His people, namely, justice and righteousness.
"Righteousnessis holiness expressed in moral principles; justiceis the application of the principles of righteousness (cf. 1:21)."65
This difference between God and His people is an aspect of His holiness (i.e., His moral purity; cf. 6:3). When God's people were humiliated and He would be exalted, innocent lambs and unknown strangers would enjoy the property that the proud sought to secure. The Israelites had once been the strangers in this land, but now other strangers would dispossess them. God does not delight in taking revenge, but He has committed Himself to remaining true to His covenant with Israel.
