< Isaiah 5 >
1 Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
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 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones of it, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine-press therein: and he expected that it would bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild 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 And now, O inhabitants 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, Please judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected that it would bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild 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 And now come; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; [and] break down the wall of it, 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 its hedge aside, And it has been for consumption, To break down its wall, And it has been for a treading-place.
6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon 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 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
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 Woe to them that join house to house, [that] lay field to field, till [there is] no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
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 In my ears [said] the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, [even] great and fair, without inhabitant.
Do many houses not become a desolation by the weapons of YHWH of Hosts? Great and good without inhabitant!
10 Yes, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.
For ten acres of vineyard yield one bath, And a homer of seed yields an ephah.
11 Woe to them that rise early in the morning, [that] they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, [till] wine inflameth them!
Woe [to] those rising early in the morning, They pursue strong drink! Lingering in twilight, wine inflames them!
12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
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 Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because [they have] no knowledge: and their honorable men [are] famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
Therefore my people removed without knowledge, And its honorable ones are famished, And its multitude dried up of thirst.
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. (Sheol )
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 )
15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be abased.
And the low is bowed down, and the high humbled, And the eyes of the haughty become low,
16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
And YHWH of Hosts is high in judgment, And the Holy God sanctified in righteousness,
17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
And lambs have fed according to their leading, And sojourners consume wastelands of the fat ones.
18 Woe to them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope:
Woe [to] those drawing out iniquity with cords of vanity, And as [with] thick ropes of the cart—sin.
19 That say, Let him make speed, [and] hasten his work, that we may see [it]: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know [it]!
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 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 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 Woe to [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes, And—before their own faces—intelligent!
22 Woe to [them that are] mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Woe [to] the mighty to drink wine, And men of strength to mingle strong drink.
23 Who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
Declaring righteous the wicked for a bribe, And the righteousness of the righteous They turn aside from him.
24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, [so] their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word 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 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills trembled, and their carcasses [were] torn 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 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 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, and will hiss to them from the end of the earth: and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:
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 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
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 Whose arrows [are] sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels 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 Their roaring [shall be] like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yes, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry [it] away safe, and none shall deliver [it].
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 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if [one] looketh to the land, behold darkness [and] sorrow, and the light is darkened in its heavens.
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!