Isaiah 5
5
Israel, the Lord’s Vineyard
1Now I will sing for my friend a song about his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a hill with very rich soil.
2He dug and cleared the field of stones
and planted the best grapevines there.
He built a tower in the middle of it
and cut out a winepress as well.
He hoped good grapes would grow there,
but only bad ones grew.
3My friend says, “You people living in Jerusalem,
and you people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4What more could I have done for my vineyard
than I have already done?
Although I expected good grapes to grow,
why were there only bad ones?
5Now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard:
I will remove the hedge,
and it will be burned.
I will break down the stone wall,
and it will be walked on.
6I will ruin my field.
It will not be trimmed or hoed,
and weeds and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7The vineyard belonging to the Lord All-Powerful
is the nation of Israel;
the garden that he loves
is the people of Judah.
He looked for justice, but there was only killing.
He hoped for right living, but there were only cries of pain.
8How terrible it will be for you who add more houses to your houses
and more fields to your fields
until there is no room left for other people.
Then you are left alone in the land.
9The Lord All-Powerful said this to me:
“The fine houses will be destroyed;
the large and beautiful houses will be left empty.
10At that time a ten-acre vineyard will make only six gallons of wine,
and ten bushels of seed will grow only half a bushel of grain.”
11How terrible it will be for people who rise early in the morning
to look for strong drink,
who stay awake late at night,
becoming drunk with wine.
12At their parties they have lyres, harps,
tambourines, flutes, and wine.
They don’t see what the Lord has done
or notice the work of his hands.
13So my people will be captured and taken away,
because they don’t really know me.
All the great people will die of hunger,
and the common people will die of thirst.
14So the place of the dead wants more and more people,
and it opens wide its mouth.
Jerusalem’s important people and common people will go down into it,
with their happy and noisy ones.
15So the common people and the great people will be brought down;
those who are proud will be humbled.
16The Lord All-Powerful will receive glory by judging fairly;
the holy God will show himself holy by doing what is right.
17Then the sheep will go anywhere they want,
and lambs will feed on the land that rich people once owned.
18How terrible it will be for those people!
They pull their guilt and sins behind them
as people pull wagons with ropes.
19They say, “Let God hurry;
let him do his work soon
so we may see it.
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel happen soon
so that we will know what it is.”
20How terrible it will be for people who call good things bad
and bad things good,
who think darkness is light
and light is darkness,
who think sour is sweet
and sweet is sour.
21How terrible it will be for people who think they are wise
and believe they are clever.
22How terrible it will be for people who are famous for drinking wine
and are champions at mixing drinks.
23They take money to set the guilty free
and don’t allow good people to be judged fairly.
24They will be destroyed
just as fire burns straw or dry grass.
They will be destroyed
like a plant whose roots rot
and whose flower dies and blows away like dust.
They have refused to obey the teachings of the Lord All-Powerful
and have hated the message from the Holy God of Israel.
25So the Lord has become very angry with his people,
and he has raised his hand to punish them.
Even the mountains are frightened.
Dead bodies lie in the streets like garbage.
But the Lord is still angry;
his hand is still raised to strike down the people.
26He raises a banner for the nations far away.
He whistles to call those people from the ends of the earth.
Look! The enemy comes quickly!
27Not one of them becomes tired or falls down.
Not one of them gets sleepy and falls asleep.
Their weapons are close at hand,
and their sandal straps are not broken.
28Their arrows are sharp,
and all of their bows are ready to shoot.
The horses’ hoofs are hard as rocks,
and their chariot wheels move like a whirlwind.
29Their shout is like the roar of a lion;
it is loud like a young lion.
They growl as they grab their captives.
There is no one to stop them from taking their captives away.
30On that day they will roar
like the waves of the sea.
And when people look at the land,
they will see only darkness and pain;
all light will become dark in this thick cloud.
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Isaiah 5: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 5
5
The Song of the Vineyard
(Luke 13:6–9)
1I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2He 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“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
I exhort you to judge
between Me and My vineyard.
4What 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?
5Now 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.
6I 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.”
7For 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.
Woes to the Wicked
8Woe to you who add house to house
and join field to field
until no place is left
and you live alone in the land.
9I heard the Lord of Hosts declare:
“Surely many houses will become desolate,
great mansions left unoccupied.
10For ten acres of vineyard
will yield but a bath of wine,#5:10 Literally ten yoke of vineyard will yield a bath; that is, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day will yield approximately 5.8 gallons or 22 liters of wine.
and a homer of seed
only an ephah of grain.#5:10 Literally and a homer of seed will yield an ephah; that is, a homer of seed (approximately 6.24 bushels or 220 liters) will yield a tenth of its weight in grain.”
11Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of strong drink,
who linger into the evening,
to be inflamed by wine.
12At 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.
13Therefore My people will go into exile
for their lack of understanding;
their dignitaries are starving
and their masses are parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws,
and down go Zion’s nobles and masses,
her revelers and carousers!
15So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled;
the arrogant will lower their eyes.
16But the Lord of Hosts will be exalted by His justice,
and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
17Lambs will graze as in their own pastures,
and strangers #5:17 LXX lambs will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19to 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!”
20Woe 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.
21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
22Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine
and champions in mixing beer,
23who acquit the guilty for a bribe
and deprive the innocent of justice.
24Therefore, 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.
25Therefore 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.
26He lifts a banner for the distant nations
and whistles for those at the ends of the earth.
Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!
27None of them grows weary or stumbles;
no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose
and no sandal strap is broken.
28Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows are strung.
The hooves of their horses are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29Their roaring is like that of a lion;
they roar like young lions.
They growl and seize their prey;
they carry it away from deliverance.
30In 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.
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.