Isaiah 5
1 I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
I schal synge for my derlyng the song of myn vnclis sone, of his vyner. A vyner was maad to my derlyng, in the horne in the sone of oile.
2 He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!
And he heggide it, and chees stoonys therof, and plauntide a chosun vyner; and he bildide a tour in the myddis therof, and rerede a presse ther ynne; and he abood, that it schulde bere grapis, and it bare wielde grapis.
3 “And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.
Now therfor, ye dwelleris of Jerusalem, and ye men of Juda, deme bitwixe me and my viner.
4 What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?
What is it that Y ouyt to do more to my vyner, and Y dide not to it? whether that Y abood, that it schulde bere grapis, and it bare wielde grapis?
5 Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.
And now Y schal schewe to you, what Y schal do to my vyner. Y schal take awei the hegge therof, and it schal be in to rauyschyng; Y schal caste doun the wal therof, and it schal be in to defoulyng; and Y schal sette it desert,
6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
ether forsakun. It schal not be kit, and it schal not be diggid, and breris and thornes schulen `growe vp on it; and Y schal comaunde to cloudis, that tho reyne not reyn on it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.
Forsothe the vyner of the Lord of oostis is the hous of Israel, and the men of Juda ben the delitable buriownyng of hym. Y abood, that it schal make doom, and lo! wickidnesse; and that it schulde do riytfulnesse, and lo! cry.
8 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.
Wo to you that ioynen hows to hous, and couplen feeld to feeld, `til to the ende of place. Whether ye aloone schulen dwelle in the myddis of the lond?
9 I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
These thingis ben in the eeris of me, the Lord of oostis; if many housis ben not forsakun, grete housis and faire, with outen dwellere, bileue ye not to me.
10 For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
For whi ten acris of vynes schulen make a potel, and thretti buschels of seed schulen make thre buschels.
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
Wo to you that risen togidere eerli to sue drunkennesse, and to drinke `til to euentid, that ye brenne with wyn.
12 At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
Harpe, and giterne, and tympan, and pipe, and wyn ben in youre feestis; and ye biholden not the werk of the Lord, nether ye biholden the werkis of hise hondis.
13 Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.
Therfor my puple is led prisoner, for it hadde not kunnyng; and the noble men therof perischiden in hungur, and the multitude therof was drye in thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens wide its enormous jaws, and down go Zion’s nobles and masses, her revelers and carousers! (Sheol h7585)
Therfor helle alargide his soule, and openyde his mouth with outen ony ende; and strong men therof, and the puple therof, and the hiy men, and gloriouse men therof, schulen go doun to it. (Sheol h7585)
15 So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.
And a man schal be bowid doun, and a man of age schal be maad low; and the iyen of hiy men schulen be pressid doun.
16 But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
And the Lord of oostis schal be enhaunsid in doom, and hooli God schal be halewid in riytfulnesse.
17 Lambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
And lambren schulen be fed bi her ordre, and comelyngis schulen ete desert places turned in to plentee.
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
Wo to you that drawen wickydnesse in the cordis of vanyte, and drawen synne as the boond of a wayn; and ye seien,
19 to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!”
The werk of hym haaste, and come soone, that we se; and the counsel of the hooli of Israel neiy, and come, and we schulen knowe it.
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.
Wo to you that seien yuel good, and good yuel; and putten derknessis liyt, and liyt derknessis; and putten bittir thing in to swete, and swete thing in to bittir.
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
Wo to you that ben wise men in youre iyen, and ben prudent bifor you silf.
22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing beer,
Wo to you that ben myyti to drynke wyn, and ben stronge to meddle drunkenesse;
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
and ye iustifien a wickid man for yiftis, and ye taken awei the riytfulnesse of a iust man fro hym.
24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
For this thing, as the tunge of fier deuourith stobil, and the heete of flawme brenneth, so the roote of hem schal be as a deed sparcle, and the seed of hem schal stie as dust; for thei castiden awei the lawe of the Lord of oostis, and blasfemyden the speche of the hooli of Israel.
25 Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
Therfor the strong veniaunce of the Lord was wrooth ayens his puple, and he stretchide forth his hond on it, and smoot it; and hillis weren disturblid, and the deed bodies of hem weren maad as a toord in the myddis of stretis. In alle these thingis the stronge vengeaunce of him was not turned awei, but yit his hond was stretchid forth.
26 He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!
And he schal reise a signe among naciouns afer, and he schal hisse to hym fro the endis of erthe; and lo! he schal haaste, and schal come swiftli.
27 None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.
Noon is failynge nethir trauelynge in that oost; he schal not nappe, nether slepe, nether the girdil of his reynes schal be vndo, nether the lace of his scho schal be brokun.
28 Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
Hise arowis ben scharpe, and alle hise bowis ben bent; the houys of hise horsis ben as a flynt, and hise wheelis ben as the feersnesse of tempest.
29 Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away from deliverance.
His roryng schal be as of lioun; he schal rore as the whelpis of liouns; and he schal gnaste, and schal holde prey, and schal biclippe, and noon schal be, that schal delyuere.
30 In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.
And he schal sowne on it in that dai, as doith the soun of the see; we schulen biholde in to the erthe, and lo! derknessis of tribulacioun, and liyt is maad derk in the derknesse therof.
