Isaiah 5
5
A Parable
1Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 5And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6and 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. 7For 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.
8Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! 9In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. 10Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
11Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! 12And 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. 13Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. 14Therefore 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. 15And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: 16but the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. 17Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
18Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: 19that 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!
20Woe unto 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!
21Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 22Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: 23which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! 24Therefore 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.
25Therefore 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 did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 26And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: 27none 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: 28whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: 29their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. 30And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
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Isaiah 5: KJV
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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Learn More About King James VersionIsaiah 5
5
Song of the Vineyard
1I will sing about the one I love,
a song about my loved one’s vineyard:#Ps 80:8; Jr 12:10; Mt 21:33; Lk 20:9
The one I love had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,
and planted it with the finest vines.#Jr 2:21
He built a tower in the middle of it
and even dug out a winepress there.
He expected#Is 40:31 it to yield good grapes,
but it yielded worthless grapes.#Mt 21:19; Mk 11:13; Lk 13:6
3So now, residents of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
please judge between me
and my vineyard.
4What more could I have done for my vineyard
than I did?#Mc 6:3–4; Mt 23:37
Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?
5Now I will tell you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge,#Ps 89:40; Jr 5:10
and it will be consumed;
I will tear down its wall,#Ps 80:12
and it will be trampled.
6I will make it a wasteland.#2Ch 36:19–21; Is 7:19–25; 24:1,3; 27:2–6; Jr 25:11
It will not be pruned or weeded;
thorns and briers will grow up.#Gn 3:18; Is 7:23–25; 9:18; 10:17; 27:4; 32:13
I will also give orders to the clouds
that rain should not fall on it.
7For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies
is the house of Israel,#Ps 80:8–11
and the men#5:7 Lit man of Judah,
the plant he delighted in.
He expected justice
but saw injustice;
he expected righteousness
but heard cries of despair.
Judah’s Sins Denounced
8Woe to those who add house to house#Jr 22:13–17; Mc 2:2; Hab 2:9–12
and join field to field
until there is no more room
and you alone are left in the land.
9I heard the Lord of Armies say:
Indeed, many houses#Am 3:10,15 will become desolate,
grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.
10For a ten-acre#5:10 Lit ten-yoke vineyard will yield
only six gallons of wine,#5:10 Lit one bath
and ten bushels#5:10 Lit one homer of seed will yield
only one bushel of grain.#5:10 Lit yield an ephah
11Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of beer,#Lv 10:9; Nm 6:3; Dt 29:6; Jdg 13:4; Is 5:22; 24:9; 28:7; 56:12
who linger into the evening,
inflamed by wine.
12At their feasts they have lyre, harp,
tambourine, flute, and wine.
They do not perceive the Lord’s actions,#Dt 32:4; Jb 34:27; 36:24; Ps 28:5; 44:1; 64:9–10
and they do not see the work of his hands.#Ex 32:16; 34:10; Ps 8:3,6; 19:1; 92:4–5; Is 10:12; 29:23
13Therefore my people will go into exile
because they lack knowledge;#Is 1:3; 27:11; Hs 4:6; Lk 11:52; 19:42; 1Tm 1:13
her#5:13 Lit its dignitaries are starving,
and her masses are parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws,#Pr 30:16; Hab 2:5
and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses,
her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!
15Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled,
and haughty eyes are humbled.#Is 2:9,11,17; 10:33
16But the Lord of Armies is exalted by his justice,#Is 33:5,10
and the holy God#Is 6:3 demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.#Is 8:13; 29:23; 1Pt 3:15
17Lambs will graze
as if in#5:17 Syr reads graze in their own pastures,#Mc 2:12
and resident aliens#5:17 LXX reads sheep will eat
among the ruins of the rich.
18Woe to those who drag iniquity
with cords of deceit#Pr 5:22; Is 59:4–8; Jr 23:10–14
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19to those who say,
“Let him hurry up and do his work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan#Jb 38:2; 42:3; Ps 33:11; 106:13; 107:11; Pr 19:21; Is 14:26; 19:17; 46:10–11 of the Holy One of Israel#Is 1:4 take place
so that we can know it!”
20Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,#Pr 17:15; Am 5:7; Mal 2:17
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21Woe to those who consider themselves wise
and judge themselves clever.#5:21 Lit and clever before their face#Pr 3:7; Rm 12:16; 1Co 3:18
22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are champions at pouring beer,#Is 5:11
23who acquit the guilty for a bribe#Ex 23:8; Pr 17:15; Is 1:23; 33:15
and deprive the innocent of justice.
24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected#Is 8:6; 30:9,12; Am 2:4; Ac 13:41
the instruction of the Lord of Armies,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.#Is 5:19; Jr 51:5
25Therefore the Lord’s anger burned#Nm 11:10,33; 32:10–13; Dt 6:15; Jos 7:1; 23:16; 2Kg 13:3; Ps 106:40 against his people.
He raised his hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,#Am 1:1; Zch 14:5
and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.#Is 9:12,17,21; 10:4; 14:27
26He raises a signal flag for the distant nations#Is 10:5; 11:10,12; 13:2; 18:3
and whistles#Is 7:18; Zch 10:8 for them from the ends of the earth.
Look — how quickly and swiftly they come!
27None of them grows weary or stumbles;#1Jn 2:10
no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose
and no sandal strap broken.
28Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows strung.
Their horses’ hooves are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29Their roaring is like a lion’s;#Jdg 14:5; Hs 13:8; Jl 1:6; Nah 2:12–13
they roar like young lions;#Rv 9:17
they growl and seize their prey
and carry it off,
and no one can rescue it.
30On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds.#5:30 Lit its clouds
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