Isaiah 5
1 Let me sing for my well beloved, a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My well beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 He spaded it, removed the stones, and planted it with an excellent kind of vine. He built a tower in the middle of it, and also built a winepress. He waited for it to produce grapes, but it only produced wild 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 So now, inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, judge 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 more could have been done for my vineyard, that I have not done for it? When I looked for it to produce grapes, why did it produce wild 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 Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will remove the hedge, I will turn it into a pasture, I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled 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 I will lay it waste, and it will not be pruned nor hoed. Instead, briers and thorns will spring up. I will also command the clouds not to rain on 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 For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah his pleasant planting; he waited for justice, but instead, there was killing; for righteousness, but, instead, a shout for help.
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 those who join house to house, who join field to field, until no room remains, and you alone remain 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 Yahweh of hosts told me, many houses will be empty, even great and impressive ones, without any inhabitant.
I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
10 For a ten-yoke vineyard will yield only one bath, and one homer of seed will yield only 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 those who rise up early in the morning to obtain strong drink, those who linger late into the night until wine inflames 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 They banquet with harp, lute, tambourine, flute, and wine, but they do not recognize the work of Yahweh, nor have they considered the doings 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 my people have gone into captivity for lack of understanding; their honored leaders go hungry, and their common people have nothing to drink.
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 Sheol has made its appetite greater and has opened its mouth very wide; their elite, the people, their leaders, and the revelers and those who are happy among them, descend into Sheol. (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 Man will be forced to bend down, and mankind will be humbled; the eyes of the lofty will be cast down.
So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.
16 Yahweh of hosts will be exalted in his justice, and God the Holy One will show himself holy by his righteousness.
But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then the sheep will feed as in their own pasture, and in the ruins, lambs will graze as foreigners.
Lambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
18 Woe to those who pull along iniquity with useless cords and who pull along sin as if it were with a cart rope.
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19 Woe to those who say, “Let God hurry, let him act quickly, so we can see it happen; and let the plans of the Holy One of Israel come, so that we may know them.”
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 those who call evil good, and good evil; who represent darkness as light, and light as darkness; who represent bitter as sweet, and sweet as 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 those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own understanding!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to those who are champions at drinking wine, and masters at mixing strong drinks;
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing beer,
23 who acquit the wicked for payment, and deprive the innocent of his rights!
who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
24 Therefore as the tongue of fire devours stubble, and as the dry grass goes down in flame, so their root will rot, and their blossom will blow away like dust. This will happen because they have rejected the law of Yahweh of hosts, and because they have despised 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 the anger of Yahweh is kindled against his people. He has reached out with his hand against them and has punished them. The mountains tremble, and their corpses are like garbage in the streets. In all these things, his anger does not subside; instead, his hand is still stretched out.
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 will lift up a signal flag for far away nations and will whistle for those at the end of the earth. Look, they will come speedily and promptly.
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 tire or stumble among them; none slumbers or sleeps. Nor are their belts loose, or the thongs of their sandals 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 are bent; their horses' hooves are like flint, and their chariot wheels like storms.
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 will be like a lion; they will roar like young lions. They will growl and seize the prey and drag it away, with none to rescue.
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 On that day they will roar against the prey as the sea roars. If anyone looks over the land, he will see darkness and suffering; even the light will be made dark by the 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.
