Isaiah 5
1 I will sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard: My well-beloved had a vineyard upon a fruitful hill.
Let me sing, I pray you, for a well-beloved of mine, The song of my beloved concerning his vineyard: —A vineyard, had my well-beloved on a very fruitful hill;
2 And he dug it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine; and he built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes.
And he thoroughly digged it, And gathered out the stones thereof, And planted it with a precious vine, And built a tower in the midst thereof, Moreover also a wine-press, hewed he therein, —Then waited he that it should bring forth grapes. And it brought forth wild grapes:
3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.
Now, therefore, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, And men of Judah, —Judge, I pray you, betwixt me, and my vineyard: —
4 What was there yet to do to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? —
What could have been done further to my vineyard, That I had not done in it? Why then—When I had waited that it should bring forth grapes, Brought it forth, wild grapes?
5 And now, let me tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trodden under foot;
Now, therefore, I pray you, let me tell, you, what I am about to do to my vineyard, —To take away the fence thereof And it shall be eaten up, To destroy the wall thereof And it shall be trodden down;
6 and I will make it a waste — it shall not be pruned nor cultivated, but there shall come up briars and thorns; and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
And I will make it a waste; —It shall be neither pruned nor hoed, But there shall come up briars and thorns, —And upon the clouds, will I lay a charge, That they rain thereon no rain.
7 For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the plant of his delight: and he looked for justice, and behold, blood-shedding; for righteousness, and behold, a cry.
Surely the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts, is the house of Israel, And, the men of Judah, are the plantation in which he dearly delighted, —And he waited, For equity but lo! murderous iniquity, For the rule of right but lo the cry of the wronged.
8 Woe unto them that add house to house, that join field to field, until there is no more room, and that ye dwell yourselves alone in the midst of the land!
Alas for them who join house to house, Field to field, bring they near, —Until there is no room, But ye are left to dwell alone in the midst of the land.
9 In mine ears Jehovah of hosts [hath said], Many houses shall assuredly become a desolation, great and excellent ones, without inhabitant.
In mine ears, [said] Yahweh of hosts, —Verily, houses in abundance, shall become, a desolation, Large and fair, without inhabitant;
10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah.
For, ten yokes of vineyard, shall yield one bath, —And the seed of a homer, shall yield an ephah,
11 Woe unto them that, rising early in the morning, run after strong drink; that linger till twilight, [till] wine inflameth them!
Alas, for them who rise early in the morning that strong drink, they may pursue, —Who follow on in the evening cool [until] with wine, they are heated;
12 And harp and lyre, tambour and flute, and wine are in their banquets; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, nor do they see the operation of his hands.
And it cometh to pass—that lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine are in their banquets, —But, the doing of Yahweh, they do not discern, And the work of his hands, have they not seen.
13 Therefore my people are led away captive from lack of knowledge, and their nobility die of famine, and their multitude are parched with thirst.
Therefore, are my people taken away captive before they know it, —And their honourable men are famished with hunger, And, their multitude, do gape for thirst.
14 Therefore doth Sheol enlarge its desire, and open its mouth without measure; and her splendour shall descend [into it], and her multitude, and her tumult, and [all] that is joyful within her. (Sheol h7585)
Therefore, hath hades enlarged her desire, And opened her mouth to its widest, —And their glory, and their multitude and their pomp. and he that is uproarious shall descend thereinto. (Sheol h7585)
15 And the mean man shall be bowed down, and the great man brought low, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low;
And the mean man hath been bowed down And the mighty man hath been humbled, —Yea the looks of the haughty shall be humbled.
16 and Jehovah of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God hallowed in righteousness.
But Yahweh of hosts, hath been exalted, in justice, —And the GOD that is holy hath been hallowed in righteousness;
17 And the lambs shall feed as on their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
Then shall the young rams feed where they please, —And, the wastes of the wealthy, shall strangers consume.
18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as with cart-ropes!
Alas! for them Who draw on themselves punishment with cords of falsehood, —And as with waggon-bands, penalty:
19 who say, Let him hasten, let him speed his work, that we may see [it]; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
Who say—Let his work quicken—let it hasten, That we may see, —And let the purpose of Israel’s Holy One, draw near and come. That we may know!
20 Woe unto them who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Alas! for them Who call evil good and good evil, —Who put darkness for light and light for darkness, Who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent in their own esteem!
Alas for them Who are wise in their own eyes, —And in their own sight, are prudent.
22 Woe unto them that are mighty for drinking wine, and men valiant to mix strong drink;
Alas for them Who are heroes to drink wine, —And men of valour to mingle strong drink,
23 who justify the wicked for a bribe, and turn away the righteousness of the righteous from them!
Who justify the lawless, for a bribe, —Whereas the righteousness of the righteous, they take from him.
24 Therefore as a tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, and dry grass sinketh down in the flame, their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; for they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore, As a tongue of fire, eateth up straw, And a flame reduceth, dry grass, to powder, Their root, like rottenness, shall become, And their blossom, like dust shall ascend, —Because they refused the law of Yahweh of hosts, And the utterance of the Holy One of Israel, they despised.
25 Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and he hath stretched out his hand against them and hath smitten them; and the mountains trembled, and their carcases are become as dung in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
For this cause, did the anger of Yahweh kindle upon his own people, And he stretched out his hand against them and smote them—So that the mountains, trembled, And, their dead bodies, served, for fuel in the midst of the streets. For all this, hath his anger, not turned back, But still, is his hand outstretched,
26 And he will lift up a banner to the nations afar off, and will hiss for one from the end of the earth; and behold, it will come rapidly [and] lightly.
Therefore will he lift up an ensign to the nations afar off, And signal for him from the end of the earth, —And lo! with hot haste, will he come:
27 None among them is weary, none stumbleth; they slumber not, nor sleep; none hath the girdle of his loins loosed, nor the thong of his sandals broken;
None shall be weary, and none shall stumble in his midst, He shall neither slumber nor sleep, —Nor shall be loosened, the girdle of his loins, Nor snapped, the thong of his sandals:
28 their arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs are reckoned as the flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind.
Whose arrows, are sharpened, and all his bows, bent, —The hoofs of his horses, like flint, are accounted, And, his wheels, [are] like a storm-wind:
29 Their roaring is like a lioness, they roar as the young lions; yea, they growl, and snatch the prey, and carry it away safe, and there is none to deliver;
A roar, hath he, like a lioness, —He will roar like wild lions—And will growl, and lay hold on prey, and carry into safety, and there be none to deliver.
30 and they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. And if one look upon the earth, behold darkness [and] distress, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Yea he will growl at him in that day, like the growling of the sea, —Though he look hard for the land, lo! the darkness of distress, Yea the light, hath grown dark in its clouds!
