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
1Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
2He dug it up,
gathered out its stones,
planted it with the choicest vine,
built a tower in the middle of it,
and also cut out a wine press in it.
He looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
please judge between me and my vineyard.
4What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?
Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?
5Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up.
I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down.
6I will lay it a wasteland.
It won’t be pruned or hoed,
but it will grow briers and thorns.
I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.”
7For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah his pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression,
for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
8Woe to those who join house to house,
who lay field to field, until there is no room,
and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!
9In my ears, Yahweh of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate,
even great and beautiful, unoccupied.
10For ten acres#5:10 literally, ten yokes, or the amount of land that ten yokes of oxen can plow in one day, which is about 10 acres or 4 hectares. of vineyard shall yield one bath,#5:10 1 bath is about 22 liters or 5.8 U. S. gallons
and a homer#5:10 1 homer is about 220 liters or 6 bushels of seed shall yield an ephah.”#5:10 1 ephah is about 22 liters or 0.6 bushels or about 2 pecks—only one tenth of what was sown.
11Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink,
who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!
12The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts;
but they don’t respect the work of Yahweh,
neither have they considered the operation of his hands.
13Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge.
Their honorable men are famished,
and their multitudes are parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol#5:14 Sheol is the place of the dead. has enlarged its desire,
and opened its mouth without measure;
and their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it.
15So man is brought low,
mankind is humbled,
and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;
16but Yahweh of Armies is exalted in justice,
and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.
17Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.
18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
and wickedness as with cart rope,
19who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it;
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 wise in their own eyes,
and prudent in their own sight!
22Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine,
and champions at mixing strong drink;
23who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice for the innocent!
24Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
and as the dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root shall be as rottenness,
and their blossom shall go up as dust,
because they have rejected the law of Yahweh of Armies,
and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore Yahweh’s anger burns against his people,
and he has stretched out his hand against them and has struck them.
The mountains tremble,
and their dead bodies are as refuse in the middle of the streets.
For all this, his anger is not turned away,
but his hand is still stretched out.
26He will lift up a banner to the nations from far away,
and he will whistle for them from the end of the earth.
Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly.
27No one shall be weary nor stumble among them;
no one shall slumber nor sleep,
neither shall the belt of their waist be untied,
nor the strap of their sandals be broken,
28whose arrows are sharp,
and all their bows bent.
Their horses’ hoofs will be like flint,
and their wheels like a whirlwind.
29Their roaring will be like a lioness.
They will roar like young lions.
Yes, they shall roar,
and seize their prey and carry it off,
and there will be no one to deliver.
30They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress.
The light is darkened in its clouds.
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