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
The Song about the Vineyard
1Let me sing a lovesong to my beloved about his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2He dug it up, removed its stones,
planted it with the choicest vines,
built a watchtower in it,
and made a winepress in it.
Then he waited for it to produce good grapes,
but it produced only sour, wild grapes.
3Now then, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard!
4What more could have been done for my vineyard
than what I have already done for it?
When I waited for it to produce good grapes,
why did it produce only sour, wild grapes?
5Now then, let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will tear away its hedge so that it can be devoured
and tear down its wall so that it can be trampled.
6I will make it a wasteland.
It will never be pruned or hoed.
Thorns and weeds will grow in it,
and I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
7The vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah are the garden of his delight.
He hoped for justice but saw only slaughter,
for righteousness but heard only cries of distress.
Six Sins Condemned
8How horrible it will be for you
who acquire house after house and buy field after field
until there’s nothing left
and you have to live by yourself in the land.
9With my own ears I heard the Lord of Armies say,
“Many houses will become empty.
Large, beautiful houses will be without people to live in them.
10A ten-acre vineyard will produce only six gallons of wine,
and two quarts of seed will produce only four quarts of grain.”
11How horrible it will be for those
who get up early to look for a drink,
who sit up late until they are drunk from wine.
12At their feasts there are lyres and harps,
tambourines and flutes, and wine.
Yet, they don’t pay attention to what the Lord is doing
or see what his hands have done.
13“My people will go into exile
because they don’t understand what I’m doing.
Honored men will starve,
and common people will be parched with thirst.”
14That is why the grave’s appetite increases.
It opens its mouth very wide
so that honored people and common people will go down into it.
Those who are noisy and joyous will go down into it.
15People will be brought down. Everyone will be humbled.
And the eyes of arrogant people will be humbled.
16The Lord of Armies will be honored when he judges.
The holy God will show himself to be holy when he does what is right.
17Then lambs will graze as if they were in their own pasture,
and foreigners will eat among the ruins of the rich.
18How horrible it will be for those
who string people along with lies and empty promises,
whose lives are sinful.
19They say,
“Let God hurry and quickly do his work
so that we may see what he has in mind.
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel happen quickly
so that we may understand what he is doing.”
20How horrible it will be for those
who call evil good and good evil,
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn what is bitter into something sweet
and what is sweet into something bitter.
21How horrible it will be for those
who think they are wise
and consider themselves to be clever.
22How horrible it will be for those
who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are champions at mixing drinks,
23who declare the guilty innocent for a bribe,
who take away the rights of righteous people.
The LORD Will Use Another Nation to Punish His People
24As flames burn up straw
and dry grass shrivels in flames,
so their roots will rot,
and their blossoms will blow away like dust.
They have rejected the teachings of the Lord of Armies
and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25That’s why the anger of the Lord burns hot against his people,
and he is ready to use his power to strike them down.
The hills tremble,
and dead bodies lie like garbage in the streets.
Even after all this, his anger has not disappeared,
and he is still ready to use his power.
26The Lord raises up a flag for the nations far away.
With a whistle he signals those at the ends of the earth.
Look, they are coming very quickly!
27None of them grow tired or stumble.
None of them slumber or sleep.
The belts on their waists aren’t loose
or their sandal straps broken.
28Their arrows are sharpened; all their bows are ready to shoot.
Their horses’ hoofs are as hard as flint.
Their chariot wheels are as quick as the wind.
29They roar like a lioness.
They growl like a young lion.
They growl as they snatch their prey
and carry it off to where no one can rescue it.
30On that day they will roar over their prey
as the sea roars.
If they look at the land,
they will see only darkness and distress.
Even the light will be darkened by thick clouds.
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