Isaiah 5
5
Song of the vineyard
1Let me sing for my loved one
a love song for his vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
2He dug it,
cleared away its stones,
planted it with excellent vines,
built a tower inside it,
and dug out a wine vat in it.
He expected it to grow good grapes—
but it grew rotten grapes.
3So now, you who live in Jerusalem, you people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
4What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I haven’t done for it?
When I expected it to grow good grapes,
why did it grow rotten grapes?
5Now let me tell you what I’m doing to my vineyard.
I’m removing its hedge,
so it will be destroyed.
I’m breaking down its walls,
so it will be trampled.
6I’ll turn it into a ruin;
it won’t be pruned or hoed,
and thorns and thistles will grow up.
I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
7The vineyard of the LORD of heavenly forces is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are the plantings in which God delighted.
God expected justice, but there was bloodshed;
righteousness, but there was a cry of distress!
Sayings of doom
8Doom to those who acquire house after house,
who annex field to field until there is no more space left
and only you live alone in the land.
9I heard the LORD of heavenly forces say this:#5.9 Heb lacks say this.
Many houses will become total ruins,
large, fine houses, with no one living in them.
10Ten acres of vineyard
will produce just one bath,#5.10 One bath is approximately twenty quarts, the same as an ephah; one homer contains ten ephahs (or baths) of grain.
and a homer of seed
will produce only an ephah.
11Doom to those who wake up early in the morning to run after beer,
to those who stay up late, lit up by wine.
12They party with lyre and harp, tambourine, flute, and wine;
but they ignore the LORD’s work;
they can’t see what God is doing.
13Therefore, my people go into exile since they didn’t understand—
their officials are dying of hunger;
so many of them are dried up with thirst.
14Therefore, the grave#5.14 Heb Sheol opens wide its jaws,
opens its mouth beyond all bounds,
and the splendid multitudes will go down, with all their uproar and cheering.
15Humanity will be humiliated;
each person laid low,
the eyes of the exalted laid low.
16But the LORD of heavenly forces will be exalted in justice,
and the holy God will show himself holy in righteousness.
17Lambs will graze as if in their pasture;
young goats#5.17 Or strangers will feed among the ruins of the rich.#5.17 Or Calves and young goats will feed on the ruins; Heb uncertain
18Doom to those who drag guilt along with cords of fraud,
and haul sin as if with cart ropes,
19who say, “God should hurry and work faster so we can see;
let the plan of Israel’s holy one come quickly, so we can understand it.”
20Doom to those who call evil good and good evil,
who present darkness as light and light as darkness,
who make bitterness sweet and sweetness bitter.
21Doom to those
who consider themselves wise,
who think of themselves as clever.
22Doom to the wine-swigging warriors,
mighty at mixing drinks,
23who spare the guilty for bribes,
and rob the innocent of their rights.
24Therefore, as a tongue of fire devours stubble,
and as hay shrivels in a flame,
so their roots will rot,
and their blossoms turn to dust,
for they have rejected the teaching of the LORD of heavenly forces,
and have despised the word of Israel’s holy one.
God’s powerful hand
25This is why the LORD’s anger burned against the people:
he extended his hand to strike them,
the mountains trembled,
and their corpses lay in the middle of the streets like dung.
Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away;
God’s hand was still extended.
26God will raise a signal to a nation from far away
and whistle to them from the end of the earth—
now look—hurrying, swiftly they come!
27Not one is tired; not one stumbles;
they don’t rest or sleep;
no belt is loose; no sandal broken;
28their arrows are sharp;
all their bows drawn;
their horses’ hooves are like flint;
their wheels like the whirlwind.
29Their roaring is like the lion;
they roar like young lions;
they growl, seize their prey,
and carry it off, with no one to rescue.
30On that day, they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks toward the land, there’s darkness.
Tyre and the Nile will be darkened by the clouds.#5.30 Heb uncertain
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Isaiah 5: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 5
5
Parable of the Vineyard
1Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [Lord]
A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people).
My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).
2He dug it all around and cleared away its stones,
And planted it with #Lit a bright red grape.the choicest vine (the people of Judah).
And He built a tower in the center of it;
And also hewed out a #This was the lower of two hollowed-out reservoirs made in the soft rock, one above the other, connected by a channel that allowed the juice pressed out in the upper reservoir to flow to the lower.wine vat in it.
Then He expected it to produce [the choicest] grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.
3“And now, says the Lord, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard (My people).
4What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield worthless ones?
5So now let me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will take away its thorn-hedge, and it will be burned up;
I will break down its #The wall was usually made up of loose stones that had been cleared from the field.stone wall and it will be trampled down [by enemies].
6I will turn it into a wasteland;
It will not be pruned or cultivated,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.”
7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house (nation) of Israel
And the men of Judah are His delightful planting [which He loves].
So He looked for justice, but in fact, [He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness;
[He looked] for righteousness, but in fact, [He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.
Woes for the Wicked
8Woe (judgment is coming) to those who join house to house and join field to field [to increase their holdings by depriving others],
Until there is no more room [for others],
So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!
9In my ears the Lord of hosts said, “Be assured that many houses will become desolate,
Even great and beautiful ones will be unoccupied.
10For ten #Lit teams of oxen, referring to the area of land that a team of oxen can plow in one day.acres of vineyard will yield [only] #This is only a very rough approximation. The basic Hebrew unit of volume was an egg, which varied greatly, and the estimation was significantly larger than an ordinary chicken egg. A bath was set at 432 eggs—six to eight gallons.one bath of wine,
And a homer (#The actual Hebrew measure was the volume of 4,320 eggs, and an ephah (like a bath, only a dry measure) was 432 eggs.six bushels) of seed will produce [only] one ephah of grain.”
11Woe (judgment is coming) to those who rise early in the morning to pursue intoxicating drink,
Who stay up late in the night till wine inflames them!
12They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts;
But they do not regard nor even pay attention to the deeds of the Lord,
Nor do they consider the work of His hands.
13Therefore My people go into exile because they lack knowledge [of God];
And their honorable men are famished,
And their common people are parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol (the realm of the dead) has increased its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure;
And #Lit her.Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her [boisterous] uproar and her [drunken] revelers descend into it.
15So the common man will be bowed down and the man of importance degraded,
And the eyes of the proud (arrogant) will be degraded.
16But the Lord of hosts will be exalted in justice,
And God, the Holy One, will show Himself holy in righteousness [through His righteous judgments].
17Then the lambs will graze [among the ruins] as in their own pasture,
And strangers will eat in the desolate places of the [exiled] wealthy.
18Woe (judgment is coming) to those who drag along wickedness with cords of falsehood,
And sin as if with cart ropes [towing their own punishment];
19Who say, “Let Him move speedily, let Him expedite His work [His promised vengeance], so that we may see it;
And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel approach
And come to pass, so that we may know it!”
20Woe (judgment is coming) to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are wise in their own eyes
And clever and shrewd in their own sight!
22Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are heroes at drinking wine
And men of strength in mixing intoxicating drinks,
23Who justify the wicked and acquit the guilty for a bribe,
And take away the rights of those who are in the right!
24Therefore, as the tongue of fire consumes the stubble [from straw]
And the dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away like fine dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts
And despised and discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and has struck them down.
And the mountains trembled, and their dead bodies lay like rubbish in the middle of the streets.
In spite of all this God’s anger is not turned away,
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
26He will lift up a flag to [call] the distant nations [to bring His judgment on Judah],
And will whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
And indeed, they will come with great speed swiftly.
27No one among them is weary or stumbles,
No one slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the belt at their waist undone [as if unprepared for action],
Nor is the strap of their sandal broken.
28Their arrows are sharp and all their bows are strung and bent;
Their horses’ hoofs seem like flint and their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
29Their roaring is like a lioness, they roar like young lions;
They growl and seize their prey
And carry it off and there is no one to save it.
30And in that day they will roar against them (Judah) like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks to the land, in fact, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light will be darkened by its clouds.
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