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.
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;
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.
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.
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 inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, Judge ye 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 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?
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.
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!
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 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.
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.
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!
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 them that join house to house, That add field to field, Till there is no place left, And they dwell alone in 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.
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.
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].”
Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield a single bath of wine, And a homer of seed shall produce but 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 them that rise early in the morning to follow strong drink, —Who sit late in the night that wine may inflame 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 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.
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 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.
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 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)
15 [Yahweh] will get rid of a huge number of people; and he will humble [many more] people who [now] are proud/arrogant.
The mean man shall be bowed down, And the great man shall be brought low, And the eyes of the haughty shall be humbled;
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.
Jehovah of hosts shall be exalted through judgment; Yea, God, the Holy One, shall be sanctified through 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].
Then shall the lambs feed, as in their own pasture, And the deserted fields of the rich shall strangers consume.
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 them that draw calamity with cords of wickedness, And punishment as with wagon-traces, —
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 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!
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 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 Terrible things will happen to those who think that they are wise and that they (are very clever/know everything).
Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own conceit!
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 them that are valiant to drink wine, And men of might 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.
That clear the guilty for a reward, And take away from the righteous his right!
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 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.
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 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.
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].
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.
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].
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.
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.
Their arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; The hoofs of their horses are like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind.
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.
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.
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.
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.
