Isaiah 5
5
1Let me sing a song for my love, about his vineyard. My love owned a vineyard on a productive hill. 2He dug it over, cleared the ground of stones, and planted it with the very best vines. In the middle of it he built a watchtower, and he also cut out a winepress from the rock. Then he waited for a good harvest of grapes, but it only produced wild, sour grapes.
3“Now, you people who live in Jerusalem and Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. 4What more could I have done for my vineyard than I've already done? When I looked for sweet grapes, why did it only produce sour ones?
5So let me tell you what I'm going to do to my vineyard. I'll remove its hedge, and it will be destroyed. I'll tear down its wall, and it will be trampled underfoot. 6I'll turn it into a wasteland. It won't be pruned or weeded—it will be overgrown with brambles and thorns. I'll order the clouds not to rain on it.”
7Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty, and the people of Judah are the plants in his garden that made him happy. Yet while he hoped for justice, he only saw injustice; he hoped people would live right, but he only heard the cries of those who were suffering.
8Tragedy is coming to you who buy house upon house and field upon field, joining them all together until no one else has anywhere to live and you live alone in the land. 9I heard the Lord Almighty declare: You can be sure that many houses are destined to become ruins, and beautiful mansions destined to become uninhabited. 10Ten acres of vineyard will only produce six gallons of wine, and a measure of seed only a tenth of that in grain.#5:10. Literally, “a homer of seed will only produce an ephah of grain.”
11Tragedy is coming to you who get up early in the morning wanting a drink, and who stay up late drinking wine until you're drunk. 12At their feasts you have lyres and harps, tambourines and flutes, and wine, but you don't ever consider what the Lord is doing, and you don't recognize his help. 13As a result my people will be exiled for their lack of understanding.#5:13. “For their lack of understanding”: or “unawares.” Their honored leaders will starve, and the crowds will be dying of thirst. 14The grave's appetite increases, its mouth opens wide, and Jerusalem's nobility and the masses will go down into it, along with the rowdy, drunken mobs. 15Everyone will be brought down, everyone will be humbled; the proud will lower their eyes in humiliation.
16But the Lord Almighty will be vindicated because he does what is right; the holy God will be shown to be holy because of his goodness. 17Lambs will graze as in their own pasture; fattened livestock and goats will feed among the ruins of the rich.#5:17. Septuagint reading.
18Tragedy is coming to you who drag along your sins behind you with cords made of lies, pulling with ropes your cartful of wickedness. 19You are among the people who say, “God should hurry up! Why doesn't God get a move on with what he's doing so we can see it? Why doesn't the Holy One of Israel execute his plan? Let's see it happen so we can understand what it is!”
20Tragedy is coming to you who say evil is good, and good is evil; who turn darkness into light and light into darkness; who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter.
21Tragedy is coming to you who are wise in your own eyes and think you're so clever.
22Tragedy is coming to you who are wine-drinking champions, and experts at mixing alcoholic drinks; 23you who set the guilty free for a bribe, and yet deny justice to the innocent. 24In the same way fire burns up stubble and dry grass falls down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers disintegrate into dust. For they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty, and have treated with contempt what the Holy One of Israel has said. 25That's why the Lord burns with anger#5:25. There are many references to the Lord's anger in Isaiah, as in other Old Testament books. This should not be equated to human anger which is often “out of control” and vindictive. The Lord's anger is an expression of his extreme displeasure, couched in human language so we can understand to some extent the impact of human sin on the Lord. Nor is it a question of God taking personal offense, but rather his concern as to what continued sin does to us, and a desire to do all he can to heal the damage sin causes. against his people. He has lifted up his hand and hit them, shaking the mountains, and leaving their corpses lying like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, his anger is not finished, and his hand is still lifted up.
26He will send a signal to the distant nations, and will whistle for those living at the ends of the earth. See how quickly they respond, how speedily they come! 27None of them gets tired or stumbles; none of them rests or sleeps. No belt comes loose, and no sandal strap breaks. 28Their arrows are already sharpened, and all their bows have been strung. The hooves of their horses are hard as flint; their chariot wheels spin like a whirlwind. 29They roar like lions, like young lions. They growl, and pounce on their prey. They drag it off so it can't be rescued. 30At that time they will roar over their prey like the roaring of the sea. Anyone who looks out over the land will see only darkness and distress—even the sunlight will be darkened by clouds.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 5
5
God’s Disappointing Vineyard
1Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved #Ps. 80:8; Jer. 2:21; Matt. 21:33; Mark 12:1; Luke 20:9regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
On a very fruitful hill.
2He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also made a winepress in it;
#Deut. 32:6So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
#(Rom. 3:4)Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in #2 Chr. 36:15, 16; Jer. 2:5; 7:25, 26; Mic. 6:3; Matt. 23:37it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
#2 Chr. 36:19; Ps. 80:12; 89:40, 41I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6I will lay it #2 Chr. 36:19–21waste;
It shall not be pruned or dug,
But there shall come up briers and #Is. 7:19–25; Jer. 25:11thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
Impending Judgment on Excesses
8Woe to those who join #Jer. 22:13–17; Mic. 2:2; Hab. 2:9–12house to house;
They add field to field,
Till there is no place
Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
9#Is. 22:14In my hearing the Lord of hosts said,
“Truly, many houses shall be desolate,
Great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant.
10For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one #Ezek. 45:11bath,
And a homer of seed shall yield one ephah.”
11#Prov. 23:29, 30; Eccl. 10:16, 17; Is. 5:22Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
That they may follow intoxicating drink;
Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!
12#Amos 6:5The harp and the strings,
The tambourine and flute,
And wine are in their feasts;
But #Job 34:27; Ps. 28:5they do not regard the work of the Lord,
Nor consider the operation of His hands.
13#2 Kin. 24:14–16Therefore my people have gone into captivity,
Because they have no #Is. 1:3; 27:11; Hos. 4:6knowledge;
Their honorable men are famished,
And their multitude dried up with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself
And opened its mouth beyond measure;
Their glory and their multitude and their pomp,
And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it.
15People shall be brought down,
#Is. 2:9, 11Each man shall be humbled,
And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16But the Lord of hosts shall be #Is. 2:11exalted in judgment,
And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.
17Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture,
And in the waste places of #Is. 10:16the fat ones strangers shall eat.
18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity,
And sin as if with a cart rope;
19#Jer. 17:15; Amos 5:18That 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 near and come,
That 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 #Prov. 3:7; Rom. 1:22; 12:16; (1 Cor. 3:18–20)wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
22Woe to men mighty at drinking wine,
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
23Who #Ex. 23:8; Prov. 17:15; Is. 1:23; Mic. 3:11; 7:3justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!
24Therefore, #Ex. 15:7as the fire devours the stubble,
And the flame consumes the chaff,
So #Job 18:16their root will be as rottenness,
And their blossom will ascend like dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25#2 Kin. 22:13, 17; Is. 66:15Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people;
He has stretched out His hand against them
And stricken them,
And #Ps. 18:7; Is. 64:3; Jer. 4:24; Nah. 1:5the hills trembled.
Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets.
#Is. 9:12, 17; Jer. 4:8; Dan. 9:16For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
26#Is. 11:10, 12He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar,
And will #Is. 7:18; Zech. 10:8whistle to them from #Mal. 1:11the end of the earth;
Surely #Joel 2:7they shall come with speed, swiftly.
27No one will be weary or stumble among them,
No one will slumber or sleep;
Nor #Dan. 5:6will the belt on their loins be loosed,
Nor the strap of their sandals be broken;
28#Jer. 5:16Whose arrows are sharp,
And all their bows bent;
Their horses’ hooves will seem like flint,
And their wheels like a whirlwind.
29Their roaring will be like a lion,
They will roar like young lions;
Yes, they will roar
And lay hold of the prey;
They will carry it away safely,
And no one will deliver.
30In that day they will roar against them
Like the roaring of the sea.
And if one #Is. 8:22; Jer. 4:23–28; Joel 2:10; Luke 21:25, 26looks to the land,
Behold, darkness and sorrow;
And the light is darkened by the clouds.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.