Isaiah 5
1 Let me sing now a song respecting my friend, A song respecting my friend touching his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard On a very fruitful hill;
I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 He digged it, and cleared it of stones, And planted it with the choicest vine, And built a tower in the midst of it, And hewed out a wine-press therein; Then he looked that it should bring forth its grapes, But it brought forth sour 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 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, Judge ye between me and my vineyard!
“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 What could have been done for my vineyard That I have not done for it? Why, then, when I looked that it should bring forth its grapes, Brought it forth sour 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 But come now, and I will tell you What I mean to do with 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 down!
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 make it a waste; It shall not be pruned, nor digged, But shall grow up into thorns and briers; I will also command the clouds That they shed no rain upon 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 The vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah the plant of his delight. He looked for justice, and behold, bloodshed! For righteousness, and behold, outcry!
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 to them that join house to house, That add field to field, Till there is no place left, And they dwell alone in the land.
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 To mine ear hath Jehovah of hosts revealed it: Surely many houses shall become a desolation, The great and the fair ones, without an inhabitant.
I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield a single bath of wine, And a homer of seed shall produce but 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 Woe to them that rise early in the morning to follow strong drink, —Who sit late in the night that wine may 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 lyre and the harp, the tabret and the pipe, and wine, are at their feasts, But they regard not the work of Jehovah, Nor attend to the operation of his hands.
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 shall my people be led captive, when they think not of it; Their honorable men shall be famished with hunger, And their rich men parched 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 doth the under-world enlarge its greedy throat, And stretch open its mouth without measure, And down go her nobility and her wealth, Her busy throng, and all that was joyful within her. (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 The mean man shall be bowed down, And the great man shall be brought low, And the eyes of the haughty shall be humbled;
So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.
16 Jehovah of hosts shall be exalted through judgment; Yea, God, the Holy One, shall be sanctified through righteousness.
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 lambs feed, as in their own pasture, And the deserted fields of the rich shall strangers consume.
Lambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
18 Woe to them that draw calamity with cords of wickedness, And punishment as with wagon-traces, —
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19 Who say, Let him make speed, let him hasten his work that we may see it! Let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and be fulfilled, that we may know 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 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!
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 to them that are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own conceit!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to them that are valiant to drink wine, And men of might to mingle strong drink!
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing beer,
23 That clear the guilty for a reward, And take away from the righteous his right!
who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
24 Therefore, as fire devours stubble, And as the withered grass sinks into the flame, So their root shall become rottenness, And their blossom shall fly up like dust. For they have despised the law of Jehovah of hosts, 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 anger of Jehovah kindled against his people; He stretcheth forth his hand against them, and smiteth them, so that the mountains tremble, And their carcasses are as dung in the midst of the streets; For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is 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 He lifteth up a banner for the nations afar off, He whistleth for them from the ends of the earth, And behold, they haste, and come swiftly.
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 among them is weary, and none stumbleth; None slumbereth nor sleepeth; The girdle of their loins is not loosed, Nor the latchet of their shoes broken.
None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.
28 Their arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; The hoofs of their horses are like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind.
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 Their roaring is like the roaring of the lion; They roar like young lions; They roar, and seize the prey; They bear it away, and none can rescue 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 Yea, in that day shall they 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 by its clouds.
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.
