ישעה 5

1 אשירה נא לידידי שירת דודי לכרמו כרם היה לידידי בקרן בן שמן

[Now] I will sing a song about my dear friend, and about his vineyard. The vineyard was on a very fertile hillside.

2 ויעזקהו ויסקלהו ויטעהו שרק ויבן מגדל בתוכו וגם יקב חצב בו ויקו לעשות ענבים ויעש באשים

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.

3 ועתה יושב ירושלם ואיש יהודה--שפטו נא ביני ובין כרמי

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].

4 מה לעשות עוד לכרמי ולא עשיתי בו מדוע קויתי לעשות ענבים ויעש באשים

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!

5 ועתה אודיעה נא אתכם את אשר אני עשה לכרמי הסר משוכתו והיה לבער פרץ גדרו והיה למרמס

[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.

6 ואשיתהו בתה לא יזמר ולא יעדר ועלה שמיר ושית ועל העבים אצוה מהמטיר עליו מטר

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.”

7 כי כרם יהוה צבאות בית ישראל ואיש יהודה נטע שעשועיו ויקו למשפט והנה משפח לצדקה והנה צעקה

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.

8 הוי מגיעי בית בבית--שדה בשדה יקריבו עד אפס מקום והושבתם לבדכם בקרב הארץ

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.

9 באזני יהוה צבאות אם לא בתים רבים לשמה יהיו--גדלים וטובים מאין יושב

[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.

10 כי עשרת צמדי כרם יעשו בת אחת וזרע חמר יעשה איפה

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].”

11 הוי משכימי בבקר שכר ירדפו מאחרי בנשף יין ידליקם

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.

12 והיה כנור ונבל תף וחליל ויין--משתיהם ואת פעל יהוה לא יביטו ומעשה ידיו לא ראו

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.

13 לכן גלה עמי מבלי דעת וכבודו מתי רעב והמונו צחה צמא

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.

14 לכן הרחיבה שאול נפשה ופערה פיה לבלי חק וירד הדרה והמונה ושאונה ועלז בה (Sheol h7585)

[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)

15 וישח אדם וישפל איש ועיני גבהים תשפלנה

[Yahweh] will get rid of a huge number of people; and he will humble [many more] people who [now] are proud/arrogant.

16 ויגבה יהוה צבאות במשפט והאל הקדוש נקדש בצדקה

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.

17 ורעו כבשים כדברם וחרבות מחים גרים יאכלו

Then lambs and fat sheep will [be able to] find good grass to eat, [even] among the ruins [of the houses of rich people].

18 הוי משכי העון בחבלי השוא וכעבות העגלה חטאה

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!

19 האמרים ימהר יחישה מעשהו--למען נראה ותקרב ותבואה עצת קדוש ישראל--ונדעה

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.”

20 הוי האמרים לרע טוב ולטוב רע שמים חשך לאור ואור לחשך שמים מר למתוק ומתוק למר

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.

21 הוי חכמים בעיניהם ונגד פניהם נבנים

Terrible things will happen to those who think that they are wise and that they (are very clever/know everything).

22 הוי גבורים לשתות יין ואנשי חיל למסך שכר

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.

23 מצדיקי רשע עקב שחד וצדקת צדיקים יסירו ממנו

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.

24 לכן כאכל קש לשון אש וחשש להבה ירפה שרשם כמק יהיה ופרחם כאבק יעלה כי מאסו את תורת יהוה צבאות ואת אמרת קדוש ישראל נאצו

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.

25 על כן חרה אף יהוה בעמו ויט ידו עליו ויכהו וירגזו ההרים ותהי נבלתם כסוחה בקרב חוצות בכל זאת לא שב אפו ועוד ידו נטויה

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.

26 ונשא נס לגוים מרחוק ושרק לו מקצה הארץ והנה מהרה קל יבוא

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].

27 אין עיף ואין כושל בו לא ינום ולא יישן ולא נפתח אזור חלציו ולא נתק שרוך נעליו

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].

28 אשר חציו שנונים וכל קשתתיו דרכות פרסות סוסיו כצר נחשבו וגלגליו כסופה

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.

29 שאגה לו כלביא ושאג (ישאג) ככפירים וינהם ויאחז טרף ויפליט ואין מציל

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.

30 וינהם עליו ביום ההוא כנהמת ים ונבט לארץ והנה חשך צר ואור חשך בעריפיה

[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.