Isaiah 5

1 Now let me sing for my Beloved, A song of my Beloved as to His vineyard: My beloved has a vineyard in a fruitful hill,

Now will I sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2 And He fences it, and casts out its stones, And plants it [with] a choice vine, And builds a tower in its midst, And has also hewn out a winepress in it, And He waits for the yielding of grapes, And it yields bad ones!

And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the middle of it, and also made a wine press therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

3 And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, Please judge between Me and My vineyard.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.

4 What [is there] to do still to My vineyard, That I have not done in it? For what reason have I waited for the yielding of grapes, And it yields [only] bad ones?

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? why, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

5 And now, pray, let Me cause you to know, That which I am doing to My vineyard, To turn its hedge aside, And it has been for consumption, To break down its wall, And it has been for a treading-place.

And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6 And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And brier and thorn have gone up, And I lay a charge on the thick clouds, From raining on it rain.

And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor dig; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.

7 Because the vineyard of YHWH of Hosts [Is] the house of Israel, And the man of Judah His pleasant plant, And He waits for judgment, and behold, oppression, For righteousness, and behold, a cry.

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8 Woe [to] those joining house to house, They bring field near to field, Until there is no place, And you have been settled by yourselves In the midst of the land!

Woe to them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the middle of the earth!

9 Do many houses not become a desolation by the weapons of YHWH of Hosts? Great and good without inhabitant!

In my ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

10 For ten acres of vineyard yield one bath, And a homer of seed yields an ephah.

Yes, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

11 Woe [to] those rising early in the morning, They pursue strong drink! Lingering in twilight, wine inflames them!

Woe to them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

12 And harp, and stringed instrument, tambourine, and pipe, And wine, have been their banquets, And they do not behold the work of YHWH, Indeed, they have not seen the work of His hands.

And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people removed without knowledge, And its honorable ones are famished, And its multitude dried up of thirst.

Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged herself, And has opened her mouth without limit. And its honor has gone down, and its multitude, And its noise, and its exulting one—into her. (Sheol h7585)

Therefore hell has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoices, shall descend into it. (Sheol h7585)

15 And the low is bowed down, and the high humbled, And the eyes of the haughty become low,

And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

16 And YHWH of Hosts is high in judgment, And the Holy God sanctified in righteousness,

But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

17 And lambs have fed according to their leading, And sojourners consume wastelands of the fat ones.

Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

18 Woe [to] those drawing out iniquity with cords of vanity, And as [with] thick ropes of the cart—sin.

Woe to them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

19 Who are saying, “Let Him hurry, Let Him hurry His work, that we may see, And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel Draw near and come, and we know.”

That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!

20 Woe [to] those saying to evil “good,” and to good “evil,” Putting darkness for light, and light for darkness, Putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.

Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes, And—before their own faces—intelligent!

Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

22 Woe [to] the mighty to drink wine, And men of strength to mingle strong drink.

Woe to them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

23 Declaring righteous the wicked for a bribe, And the righteousness of the righteous They turn aside from him.

Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire devours stubble, And flaming hay falls, Their root is as muck, And their flower goes up as dust. Because they have rejected the Law of YHWH of Hosts, And despised the saying of the Holy One of Israel.

Therefore as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore the anger of YHWH has burned among His people, And He stretches out His hand against it, And strikes it, and the mountains tremble, And their carcass is as filth in the midst of the out-places. With all this His anger did not turn back, And still His hand is stretched out!

Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he has stretched forth his hand against them, and has smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the middle of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

26 And He lifted up an ensign to the far-off nations, And hissed to it from the end of the earth, And behold, with haste, it comes swiftly.

And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss to them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

27 There is none weary, nor stumbling in it, It does not slumber, nor sleep, Nor has the girdle of its loins been opened, Nor the strap of its sandals drawn away.

None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the lace of their shoes be broken:

28 Whose arrows [are] sharp, and all its bows bent, Hooves of its horses have been reckoned as flint, And its wheels as a windstorm!

Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

29 Its roaring [is] like a lioness, It roars like young lions, And it howls, and seizes prey, And carries away safely, and there is none delivering.

Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yes, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.

30 And it howls against it in that day as the howling of a sea, And it has looked attentively to the land, And behold, darkness—distress, And light has been darkened by its abundance!

And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look to the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.