Isaiah 5
1 Now will I sing to my beloued a song of my beloued to his vineyarde, My beloued had a vineyarde in a very fruitefull hill,
I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 And hee hedged it, and gathered out the stones of it, and he planted it with the best plants, and hee builte a towre in the middes thereof, and made a wine presse therein: then hee looked that it should bring foorth grapes: but it brought foorth wilde grapes.
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!
3 Now therefore, O inhabitants of Ierusalem and men of Iudah, iudge, I pray you, betweene me, and my vineyarde.
“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 What coulde I haue done any more to my vineyard that I haue not done vnto it? why haue I looked that it should bring foorth grapes, and it bringeth foorth wilde grapes?
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?
5 And nowe I will tell you what I will do to my vineyarde: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten vp: I will breake the wall thereof, and it shall be troden downe:
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.
6 And I will laye it waste: it shall not be cut, nor digged, but briers, and thornes shall growe vp: I will also commande the cloudes that they raine no raine vpon it.
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.”
7 Surely the vineyard of the Lord of hostes is the house of Israel, and the men of Iudah are his pleasant plant, and hee looked for iudgement, but beholde oppression: for righteousnesse, but beholde a crying.
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.
8 Woe vnto them that ioyne house to house, and laye fielde to fielde, till there bee no place, that ye may be placed by your selues in the mids of the earth.
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.
9 This is in mine cares, saith the Lord of hostes. Surely many houses shall be desolate, euen great, and faire without inhabitant.
I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
10 For ten acres of vines shall yelde one bath, and the seede of an homer shall yelde an ephah.
For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
11 Wo vnto them, that rise vp early to follow drunkennes, and to them that continue vntill night, till the wine doe inflame them.
Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
12 And the harpe and viole, timbrel, and pipe, and wine are in their feastes: but they regard not the worke of the Lord, neither consider the worke of his handes.
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.
13 Therefore my people is gone into captiuitie, because they had no knowledge, and the glorie thereof are men famished, and the multitude thereof is dried vp with thirst.
Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.
14 Therefore hell hath inlarged it selfe, and hath opened his mouth, without measure, and their glorie, and their multitude, and their pompe, and hee that reioyceth among them, shall descend into it. (Sheol h7585)
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)
15 And man shalbe brought downe, and man shalbe humbled, euen the eyes of the proude shalbe humbled.
So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.
16 And the Lord of hostes shalbe exalted in iudgement, and the holy God shalbe sanctified in iustice.
But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambes feede after their maner, and the strangers shall eate the desolate places of the fat.
Lambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
18 Woe vnto them, that draw iniquitie with cordes of vanitie, and sinne, as with cart ropes:
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19 Which say, Let him make speede: let him hasten his worke, that wee may see it: and let the counsell of the holy one of Israel draw neere and come, that we may knowe it.
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!”
20 Woe vnto them that speake good of euill, and euill of good, which put darkenes for light, and light for darkenes, that put bitter for sweete, and sweete for sowre.
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.
21 Woe vnto them that are wise in their owne eyes, and prudent in their owne sight.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
22 Wo vnto them that are mightie to drinke wine, and to them that are strong to powre in strong drinke:
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing beer,
23 Which iustifie the wicked for a rewarde, and take away the righteousnesse of the righteous from him.
who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
24 Therefore as the flame of fire deuoureth the stubble, and as the chaffe is cosumed of the flame: so their roote shalbe as rottennesse, and their bud shall rise vp like dust, because they haue cast off the Lawe of the Lord of hostes, and contemned the word of the holy one of Israel.
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.
25 Therefore is the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and hee hath stretched out his hand vpon them, and hath smitten them that the mountaines did tremble: and their carkases were torne in the middes of the streetes, and for all this his wrath was not turned away, but his hande was stretched out still.
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.
26 And he will lift vp a signe vnto the nations a farre, and wil hisse vnto them from the ende of the earth: and beholde, they shall come hastily with speede.
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!
27 None shall faint nor fall among them: none shall slumber nor sleepe, neither shall the girdle of his loynes be loosed, nor the latchet of his shooes be broken:
None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.
28 Whose arrowes shall be sharpe, and all his bowes bent: his horse hoofes shall be thought like flint, and his wheeles like a whirlewinde.
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.
29 His roaring shalbe like a lyon, and he shall roare like lyons whelpes: they shall roare, and lay holde of the praye: they shall take it away, and none shall deliuer it.
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.
30 And in that day they shall roare vpon them, as the roaring of the sea: and if they looke vnto the earth, beholde darkenesse, and sorowe, and the light shalbe darkened in their skie.
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.
