Isaiah 5
5
The Song of the Vineyard
1I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
3“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?
5Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
Woes and Judgments
8Woe to you who add house to house
and join field to field
till no space is left
and you live alone in the land.
9The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing:
“Surely the great houses will become desolate,
the fine mansions left without occupants.
10A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath#5:10 That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters of wine;
a homer#5:10 That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms of seed will yield only an ephah#5:10 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms of grain.”
11Woe to those who rise early in the morning
to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
till they are inflamed with wine.
12They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
pipes and timbrels and wine,
but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord,
no respect for the work of his hands.
13Therefore my people will go into exile
for lack of understanding;
those of high rank will die of hunger
and the common people will be parched with thirst.
14Therefore Death expands its jaws,
opening wide its mouth;
into it will descend their nobles and masses
with all their brawlers and revelers.
15So people will be brought low
and everyone humbled,
the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
16But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice,
and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.
17Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;
lambs will feed#5:17 Septuagint; Hebrew / strangers will eat among the ruins of the rich.
18Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,
and wickedness as with cart ropes,
19to those who say, “Let God hurry;
let him hasten his work
so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One of Israel—
let it approach, let it come into view,
so we may know it.”
20Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
and champions at mixing drinks,
23who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice to the innocent.
24Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw
and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay
and their flowers blow away like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people;
his hand is raised and he strikes them down.
The mountains shake,
and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
26He lifts up a banner for the distant nations,
he whistles for those at the ends of the earth.
Here they come,
swiftly and speedily!
27Not one of them grows tired or stumbles,
not one slumbers or sleeps;
not a belt is loosened at the waist,
not a sandal strap is broken.
28Their arrows are sharp,
all their bows are strung;
their horses’ hooves seem like flint,
their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
29Their roar is like that of the lion,
they roar like young lions;
they growl as they seize their prey
and carry it off with no one to rescue.
30In that day they will roar over it
like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks at the land,
there is only darkness and distress;
even the sun will be darkened by clouds.
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Isaiah 5: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
Isaiah 5
5
The Song of the Vineyard
1Let me sing for my beloved
a song of my love concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard#Literally “A vineyard was for my beloved” on a fertile hill.#Literally “a horn of a son of olive oil.” The Hebrew for horn, qeren, sounds like the Hebrew for vineyard, kerem
2And he dug it and cleared it of stones,
and he planted it with choice vines,#Hebrew “vine”
and he built a watchtower in the middle of it,
and he even hewed out a wine vat in it,
and he waited for it to yield grapes—
but it yielded wild grapes.
3And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men#Hebrew “man” of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
4What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?
Why did I hope for it to yield grapes, and it yielded wild grapes?
5And now let me tell you what I myself am about to do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge, and it shall become a devastation.
I will break down its wall, and it shall become a trampling.
6And I will make it a wasteland;
it shall not be pruned and hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers#Hebrew “brier” and thornbushes.#Hebrew “thornbush”
And concerning the clouds, I will command them not to send#Literally “from sending” rain down upon it.
7For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the man#Or “people” of Judah is the plantation of his delight.
And he waited for justice,#The Hebrew word, mishpat, sounds like mishpakh in the next line
but look! Bloodshed!#The Hebrew word, mishpakh, sounds like mishpat in the previous line
For righteousness,#The Hebrew word, tsedaqah, sounds like tsa`aqah in the next line
but look! A cry of distress!#The Hebrew word, tsa`aqah, sounds like tsedaqah in the previous line
Woes on the Wicked
8Ah! Those who join#Literally “touch” house with house,
they join field together with field
until there is no place#Literally “an end of place”
and you are caused to dwell alone in the midst of the land.
9Yahweh of hosts said in my ears:
Surely#Literally “If not” many houses shall become a desolation,
large and beautiful ones without inhabitant.
10For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath,#A bath is a liquid measure
and the seed of a homer will yield an ephah.#An ephah is a dry measure equal to one-tenth of a homer
11Ah! Those who rise early in the morning,
they pursue strong drink.
Those who linger in the evening,
wine inflames them.
12And there will be lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute,
and wine at their feasts,
but they do not look at the deeds#Hebrew “deed” of Yahweh,
and they do not see the work of his hands.
13Therefore my people will go into exile without knowledge,
and their#Hebrew “its” nobles#Hebrew “noble” will be men of hunger,
and their#Hebrew “its” multitude is parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat,
and it has opened wide its mouth without limit,
and her#That is, Jerusalem’s nobles#Hebrew “noble” will go down, and her multitude,
her tumult and those who revel in her.
15And humankind is bowed down,
and man is brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty are humiliated.
16But Yahweh of hosts is exalted by justice,
and the holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.
17And then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
and fatlings, kids#Following the Septuagint, which reads the Hebrew grym (resident aliens) as gdym (young goats/sheep) will eat among the sites of ruins.#Literally “and ruins, fatlings, resident aliens, will eat”
18Ah! Those who drag iniquity along with the cords of falsehood
and sin as with rope of the cart,
19those who say,
“Let him make haste;
let him hurry his work
so that we may see it
and let it draw near
and let the plan of the holy one of Israel come
so that we may know it!”
20Ah! Those who call evil good and good evil,
those who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
those who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21Ah! Those who are wise in their own eyes
and have understanding in their view!#Literally “before their faces”
22Ah! Heroes at drinking wine,
and men of capability at mixing strong drink!
23Those who acquit the guilty because of a bribe
and remove the justice of the innocent from him.
24Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
and dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will become like the stench,
and their blossom will go up like the dust.
For they have rejected the instruction of Yahweh of hosts,
and they have treated the word of the holy one of Israel with contempt.
25Therefore Yahweh’s wrath was kindled#Literally “the anger of Yahweh became hot” against his people,
and he stretched out his hand against them#Hebrew “it” and struck them,#Hebrew “it”
and the mountains quaked,
and their corpses#Hebrew “corpse” were like refuse in the middle of the streets.
Yahweh’s Outstretched Hand
In all of this his anger has not turned back,
and still his hand is stretched out.
26And he will raise a signal for a nation#The Hebrew is plural, but the following verses refer to the nation as singular from afar,
and he will whistle for it from the end of the earth.
And look! It comes quickly, swiftly!
27None is weary,
and none among him stumbles;
none slumbers and none sleeps.
And no loincloth on his waist is opened,
and no thong of his sandals is drawn away.
28Whose arrows are sharp,
and all of his bows are bent.
The hoofs of his horses are reckoned like flint,
and his wheels like the storm wind.
29His roaring is like the lion,
and he roars like young lions.
And he growls and seizes his prey,
and he carries it off,
and not one can rescue it.
30And he will roar over him on that day
like the roaring of the sea,
and if one looks to the land, look! Darkness! Distress!
And the light grows dark with its#Presumably the land’s clouds.
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