Isaiah 5
1 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;
Let me sing, I pray you, for my beloved, A song of my beloved as to his vineyard: My beloved hath a vineyard in a fruitful hill,
2 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:
And he fenceth it, and casteth out its stones, And planteth it [with] a choice vine, And buildeth a tower in its midst, And also a wine press hath hewn out in it, And he waiteth for the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones!
3 Now, therefore, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, And men of Judah, —Judge, I pray you, betwixt me, and my vineyard: —
And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.
4 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?
What — to do still to my vineyard, That I have not done in it! Wherefore, I waited to the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones!
5 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;
And now, pray, let me cause you to know, That which I am doing to my vineyard, To turn aside its hedge, And it hath been for consumption, To break down its wall, And it hath been for a treading-place.
6 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.
And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain.
7 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.
Because the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts [Is] the house of Israel, And the man of Judah His pleasant plant, And He waiteth for judgment, and lo, oppression, For righteousness, and lo, a cry.
8 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.
Woe [to] those joining house to house, Field to field they bring near, till there is no place, And ye have been settled by yourselves In the midst of the land!
9 In mine ears, [said] Yahweh of hosts, —Verily, houses in abundance, shall become, a desolation, Large and fair, without inhabitant;
By the weapons of Jehovah of Hosts Do not many houses a desolation become? Great and good without inhabitant!
10 For, ten yokes of vineyard, shall yield one bath, —And the seed of a homer, shall yield an ephah,
For ten acres of vineyard do yield one bath, And an homer of seed yieldeth an ephah.
11 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;
Woe [to] those rising early in the morning, Strong drink they pursue! Tarrying in twilight, wine inflameth them!
12 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.
And harp, and psaltery, tabret, and pipe, And wine, have been their banquets, And the work of Jehovah they behold not, Yea, the work of His hands they have not seen.
13 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.
Therefore my people removed without knowledge, And its honourable ones are famished, And its multitude dried up of thirst.
14 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)
Therefore hath Sheol enlarged herself, And hath opened her mouth without limit. And gone down hath its honour, and its multitude, And its noise, and its exulting one — into her. (Sheol h7585)
15 And the mean man hath been bowed down And the mighty man hath been humbled, —Yea the looks of the haughty shall be humbled.
And bowed down is the low, and humbled the high, And the eyes of the haughty become low,
16 But Yahweh of hosts, hath been exalted, in justice, —And the GOD that is holy hath been hallowed in righteousness;
And Jehovah of Hosts is high in judgment, And the Holy God sanctified in righteousness,
17 Then shall the young rams feed where they please, —And, the wastes of the wealthy, shall strangers consume.
And fed have lambs according to their leading, And waste places of the fat ones Do sojourners consume.
18 Alas! for them Who draw on themselves punishment with cords of falsehood, —And as with waggon-bands, penalty:
Woe [to] those drawing out iniquity with cords of vanity, And as [with] thick ropes of the cart — sin.
19 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!
Who are saying, 'Let Him hurry, Let Him hasten His work, that we may see, And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel Draw near and come, and we know.'
20 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.
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.
21 Alas for them Who are wise in their own eyes, —And in their own sight, are prudent.
Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes, And — before their own faces — intelligent!
22 Alas for them Who are heroes to drink wine, —And men of valour to mingle strong drink,
Woe [to] the mighty to drink wine, And men of strength to mingle strong drink.
23 Who justify the lawless, for a bribe, —Whereas the righteousness of the righteous, they take from him.
Declaring righteous the wicked for a bribe, And the righteousness of the righteous They turn aside from him.
24 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.
Therefore, as a tongue of fire devoureth stubble, And flaming hay falleth, Their root is as muck, And their flower as dust goeth up. Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of Hosts, And the saying of the Holy One of Israel despised.
25 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,
Therefore hath the anger of Jehovah burned among His people, And He stretcheth out His hand against it, And smiteth it, and the mountains tremble, And their carcase 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!
26 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:
And He lifted up an ensign to nations afar off, And hissed to it from the end of the earth, And lo, with haste, swift it cometh.
27 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:
There is none weary, nor stumbling in it, It doth not slumber, nor sleep, Nor opened hath been the girdle of its loins, Nor drawn away the latchet of its sandals.
28 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:
Whose arrows [are] sharp, and all its bows bent, Hoofs of its horses as flint have been reckoned, And its wheels as a hurricane!
29 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.
Its roaring [is] like a lioness, It roareth like young lions, And it howleth, and seizeth prey, And carrieth away safely, and there is none delivering.
30 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!
And it howleth against it in that day as the howling of a sea, And it hath looked attentively to the land, And lo, darkness — distress, And light hath been darkened by its abundance!
