Isaiah 5
5
V
1Let me sing now to my Beloved,
A song of my Beloved touching his vineyard.
My Beloved had a vineyard
Upon a very fruitful hill.
2He digged it, and cleared it of stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine,
And he built a tower in the midst of it,
And also hewed out a wine-vat therein;
And he expected, that it should bring forth grapes;
But it brought forth baneful berries.
3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and ye men of Judah,
Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.
4What could have been done more to my vineyard,
Than I have done unto it?
Why, when I expected that it should bring forth grapes,
Brought it forth baneful berries?
5But come now, and I will make known unto you
What I will do unto my vineyard
I will remove its hedge, and it shall be eaten up;
I will demolish its wall, and it shall be trodden down.
6And I will make it a waste:
It shall not be pruned, neither shall it be weeded; But there shall come up briers and thorns;
And to the clouds I will give command,
That they rain no rain upon it.
7For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel;
And the men of Judah his pleasant plant:
He looked for judgment, and behold a shedding of blood;
For justice, and behold a cry.
8Wo unto them, who join house to house;
Who lay field unto field together;
Until there be no more room left,
And ye dwell by yourselves alone in the midst of the land.
9In my ears hath Jehovah of hosts revealed it:
Surely, the many houses shall become a desolation;
The great and the fair ones, no one shall inhabit.
10Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
And a chomer of seed shall produce an ephah.
11Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning to follow after strong drink;
Who sit late in the evening, that the wine may inflame them:
12And the lyre, and the harp, the tabor, and the pipe,
And wine, are in their feasts;
But the work of Jehovah they regard not;
And the operation of his hands they do not perceive.
13Therefore my people goeth into captivity by surprise;
Their nobles die with hunger;
And their multitude are parched up with thirst.
14Therefore bath Hades opened its jaws with greediness;
And hath stretched open its mouth without measure:
And down go her nobility, and her multitude;
And her busy throng, and all that exult in her.
15And the mean man shall be bowed down, and the great man shall be humbled;
And the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
16But Jehovah of hosts shall be exalted in judgment;
And the Holy God shall be sanctified in righteousness.
17Then shall the sheep feed, as upon their own pasture; And in the desolate possessions of the rich shall strange flocks graze.
18Wo unto them that draw punishment along with a rope of vice;
And destruction as with a cart-rope.
19Who say, Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it;
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come to pass, that we may know it.
20Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.
21Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes;
And prudent in their own conceit.
22Wo unto them that are powerful to drink wine;
And men of might to mingle strong drink.
23Who justify the guilty for reward,
And take away the righteousness of the righteous from him.
24Therefore as the flame of fire devoureth the stubble,
And as the dry grass sinketh down into the flame;
So their root shall be as rottenness,
And their blossom shall go up like the dust:
Because they have despised the law of Jehovah of hosts;
And scornfully rejected the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people;
And he hath stretched out his hand against them,
And smitten them; and the mountains trembled;
And their carcases became as the mire in the midst of the streets.
For all this his anger is not turned away;
But his hand is still stretched out.
26And he will erect a standard for the nations afar off;
And he will hiss unto them from the end of the earth;
And behold, with speed swiftly shall they come.
27None among them is faint, and none stumbleth;
No one slumbereth, and no one sleepeth:
Neither is the girdle of their loins loosed,
Nor the latchet of their shoes torn off.
28Whose arrows are sharpened,
And all their bows are bent:
The hoofs of their horses are counted like unto the flint;
And their wheels unto the whirlwind.
29Their roaring is like that of the lioness;
They roar like the young lions:
They rage, and seize the prey;
They bear it away, and no one doth rescue.
30In that day shall they roar against them, like the roaring of the sea;
And if one look unto the land, behold there darkness;
Perplexity mid light;
It becomes dark in the clouds thereof.
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Isaiah 5: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 5
5
The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard
1Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
4What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with 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 people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!
Social Injustice Denounced
8Ah, you who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is room for no one but you,
and you are left to live alone
in the midst of the land!
9The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.#5.10 The Heb bath, homer, and ephah are measures of quantity
11Ah, you who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of strong drink,
who linger in the evening
to be inflamed by wine,
12whose feasts consist of lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine,
but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands!
13Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge;
their nobles are dying of hunger,
and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
and opened its mouth beyond measure;
the nobility of Jerusalem#5.14 Heb her nobility and her multitude go down,
her throng and all who exult in her.
15People are bowed down, everyone is brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
16But the Lord of hosts is exalted by justice,
and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.
17Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture,
fatlings and kids#5.17 Cn Compare Gk: Heb aliens shall feed among the ruins.
18Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood,
who drag sin along as with cart ropes,
19who say, “Let him make haste,
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment,
that we may know it!”
20Ah, you 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!
21Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes,
and shrewd in your own sight!
22Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine
and valiant at mixing drink,
23who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of their rights!
Foreign Invasion Predicted
24Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will become rotten,
and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts,
and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,
and their corpses were like refuse
in the streets.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
26He will raise a signal for a nation far away,
and whistle for a people at the ends of the earth;
Here they come, swiftly, speedily!
27None of them is weary, none stumbles,
none slumbers or sleeps,
not a loincloth is loose,
not a sandal-thong broken;
28their arrows are sharp,
all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
and their wheels like the whirlwind.
29Their roaring is like a lion,
like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize their prey,
they carry it off, and no one can rescue.
30They will roar over it on that day,
like the roaring of the sea.
And if one look to the land—
only darkness and distress;
and the light grows dark with clouds.
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.