Isaiah 5
1 [Now] I will sing a song about my dear friend, and about his vineyard. The vineyard was on a very fertile hillside.
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,
2 My friend plowed the ground and cleared away the stones. Then he planted very good grapevines on that ground. In the middle of the vineyard, he built a watchtower, and he dug a (winepress/pit for squeezing the grapes). Then he waited [each year] to harvest some good grapes, but the vines produced [only] sour grapes.
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!
3 Now [this is what Yahweh says]: “You people of Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah, I [am like the friend, and you are like] my vineyard; [so] you judge which of us [has done what is right].
And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, Please judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for you than what I have already done? I expected you to be doing good deeds [MET], so it is disgusting that [RHQ] you were [doing only evil things] like the vineyard that produced only sour grapes!
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?
5 [So], I will now tell you what I will do to [Judah, the place that is like] my vineyard. I will cut down the hedges, and they will be destroyed. I will tear down the walls [of the cities] and allow [wild animals] to trample the land.
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.
6 I will cause it to become a wasteland where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed. It will be a place where briers and thorns [DOU] grow. And I will command that no rain will fall on it.”
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.
7 The nation of Israel is [like] [MET] the vineyard of the Commander of the armies of angels. The people of Judah are [like] the garden that was pleasing to him. He expected you to be doing what is just/fair, but instead, [what he saw was people] murdering [MTY] others. [He expected that you would be doing] righteous deeds, but instead, he heard cries from people who were being [attacked] violently.
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.
8 Terrible things will happen to you who continually [illegally] acquire houses and fields. You force one family after another to leave their homes until you are the only ones [HYP] [still] living in the land.
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!
9 [But] I heard the Commander of the armies of angels solemnly declare this: “[Some day], many of those huge houses will be empty/deserted; no one will be living in those beautiful mansions.
Do many houses not become a desolation by the weapons of YHWH of Hosts? Great and good without inhabitant!
10 The vines on ten acres of land will not produce enough grapes to make (six gallons/22 liters) [of juice/wine], and ten baskets of seed will produce only one basket [of grain].”
For ten acres of vineyard yield one bath, And a homer of seed yields an ephah.
11 Terrible things will happen to those who get up early [each] morning to begin drinking alcoholic drinks, and who stay awake until late at night [drinking a lot of wine] until they are completely drunk.
Woe [to] those rising early in the morning, They pursue strong drink! Lingering in twilight, wine inflames them!
12 They have [big parties and provide lots of] wine. At their parties, there are [people playing] harps and lyres and tambourines and flutes, but they never think about what Yahweh does or appreciate what he has created.
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.
13 So, my people will be (exiled/taken to other countries) [far away] because they do not know [about me]. Those who are [now very important and] honored will starve, and the other people will die from thirst.
Therefore my people removed without knowledge, And its honorable ones are famished, And its multitude dried up of thirst.
14 [It is as though] [PRS] the place where the dead people are is eagerly looking for more Israeli people, opening its mouth to swallow them, and a huge number of people will be thrown into that place, including their leaders as well as a noisy crowd of people who enjoy living in Jerusalem. (Sheol h7585)
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)
15 [Yahweh] will get rid of a huge number of people; and he will humble [many more] people who [now] are proud/arrogant.
And the low is bowed down, and the high humbled, And the eyes of the haughty become low,
16 But the Commander of the armies of angels will be exalted/praised because of his acting justly. God will show that he is holy by doing righteous/just deeds.
And YHWH of Hosts is high in judgment, And the Holy God sanctified in righteousness,
17 Then lambs and fat sheep will [be able to] find good grass to eat, [even] among the ruins [of the houses of rich people].
And lambs have fed according to their leading, And sojourners consume wastelands of the fat ones.
18 Some people constantly tell lies, and [it is as though] they are dragging behind them the wrong things that they have done. Terrible things will happen to them!
Woe [to] those drawing out iniquity with cords of vanity, And as [with] thick ropes of the cart—sin.
19 They [make fun of God and] say [to him, ] “Go ahead, do something [to punish us]! We want to see what you will do. You, the Holy One of Israel, should do what you are planning to do, because we want to know what it is.”
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.”
20 Terrible things will happen to those who say that evil is good, and that good is evil, that darkness is light and that light is darkness, that what is bitter is sweet and what is sweet is 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 Terrible things will happen to those who think that they are wise and that they (are very clever/know everything).
Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes, And—before their own faces—intelligent!
22 Terrible things will happen to those who [think that] [IRO] they are great/heroes because they are able to drink [lots of] wine, and boast about being able to mix good alcoholic drinks.
Woe [to] the mighty to drink wine, And men of strength to mingle strong drink.
23 If people offer them bribes in order that they will enable wicked people not to be punished, they accept those bribes, and they cause people who are innocent to be punished.
Declaring righteous the wicked for a bribe, And the righteousness of the righteous They turn aside from him.
24 Therefore, just like [SIM] fires burn up stubble and dry grass shrivels up and quickly burns in flames, [it will be as though] those people have roots that will rot and have flowers that will wither. [That will happen] because they rejected the laws of the Commander of the armies of angels; they have despised the messages of the Holy One of Israel.
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.
25 That is why Yahweh is [extremely] angry [with his people]; [it is as though] his hand is raised [and he is ready to smash them]. [When he does that], the mountains will shake, and the corpses of people will be scattered in the streets like [SIM] manure. But even when that happens, Yahweh will still be very angry; he will be ready to punish his people [MET] again.
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!
26 Yahweh will send a signal to summon [armies of] nations far away; [it is as though] he will whistle [to summon those soldiers who are] in very remote places on the earth. They will come very swiftly [DOU] [to Jerusalem].
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.
27 They will not get tired or stumble. They will not [stop to] rest or to sleep. None of their belts will be loose, and none of them will have sandals with broken straps, [so they will all be ready to fight in battles].
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.
28 Their arrows will be sharp, and their bows will be ready [to shoot those arrows in a battle]. [Because their horses pull the chariots fast], sparks will shoot out from their hooves, and the wheels of the chariots will spin like a whirlwind.
Whose arrows [are] sharp, and all its bows bent, Hooves of its horses have been reckoned as flint, And its wheels as a windstorm!
29 They will roar like [very strong] lions [DOU] that growl and [then] pounce on the animals they want to kill and carry them off, and no one is able to rescue them.
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.
30 [Similarly, your enemies] will roar when they see the people they are about to kill, like [SIM] the sea roars. [On that day], if someone looks across the land, he will see [only people who are in] darkness and distressed; [it will be as though] even the sunlight is hidden by dark clouds.
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!
