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Isaiah 5
The Message
Isaiah 5
The Message
Looking for a Crop of Justice
5 1-2 I’ll sing a ballad to the one I love,
a love ballad about his vineyard:
The one I love had a vineyard,
a fine, well-placed vineyard.
He hoed the soil and pulled the weeds,
and planted the very best vines.
He built a lookout, built a winepress,
a vineyard to be proud of.
He looked for a vintage yield of grapes,
but for all his pains he got garbage grapes.
3-4 “Now listen to what I’m telling you,
you who live in Jerusalem and Judah.
What do you think is going on
between me and my vineyard?
Can you think of anything I could have done
to my vineyard that I didn’t do?
When I expected good grapes,
why did I get bitter grapes?
5-6 “Well now, let me tell you
what I’ll do to my vineyard:
I’ll tear down its fence
and let it go to ruin.
I’ll knock down the gate
and let it be trampled.
I’ll turn it into a patch of weeds, untended, uncared for—
thistles and thorns will take over.
I’ll give orders to the clouds:
‘Don’t rain on that vineyard, ever!’”
7 Do you get it? The vineyard of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
is the country of Israel.
All the men and women of Judah
are the garden he was so proud of.
He looked for a crop of justice
and saw them murdering each other.
He looked for a harvest of righteousness
and heard only the moans of victims.
You Who Call Evil Good and Good Evil
8-10 Doom to you who buy up all the houses
and grab all the land for yourselves—
Evicting the old owners,
posting no trespassing signs,
Taking over the country,
leaving everyone homeless and landless.
I overheard God-of-the-Angel-Armies say:
“Those mighty houses will end up empty.
Those extravagant estates will be deserted.
A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine,
a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain.”
11-17 Doom to those who get up early
and start drinking booze before breakfast,
Who stay up all hours of the night
drinking themselves into a stupor.
They make sure their banquets are well-furnished
with harps and flutes and plenty of wine,
But they’ll have nothing to do with the work of God,
pay no mind to what he is doing.
Therefore my people will end up in exile
because they don’t know the score.
Their “honored men” will starve to death
and the common people die of thirst.
Sheol developed a huge appetite,
swallowing people nonstop!
Big people and little people alike
down that gullet, to say nothing of all the drunks.
The down-and-out on a par
with the high-and-mighty,
Windbag boasters crumpled,
flaccid as a punctured bladder.
But by working justice,
God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be a mountain.
By working righteousness,
Holy God will show what “holy” is.
And lambs will graze
as if they owned the place,
Kids and calves
right at home in the ruins.
18-19 Doom to you who use lies to sell evil,
who haul sin to market by the truckload,
Who say, “What’s God waiting for?
Let him get a move on so we can see it.
Whatever The Holy of Israel has cooked up,
we’d like to check it out.”
20 Doom to you who call evil good
and good evil,
Who put darkness in place of light
and light in place of darkness,
Who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21-23 Doom to you who think you’re so smart,
who hold such a high opinion of yourselves!
All you’re good at is drinking—champion boozers
who collect trophies from drinking bouts
And then line your pockets with bribes from the guilty
while you violate the rights of the innocent.
24 But they won’t get by with it. As fire eats stubble
and dry grass goes up in smoke,
Their souls will atrophy,
their achievements crumble into dust,
Because they said no to the revelation
of God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
Would have nothing to do
with The Holy of Israel.
25-30 That’s why God flamed out in anger against his people,
reached out and knocked them down.
The mountains trembled
as their dead bodies piled up in the streets.
But even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
He raises a flag, signaling a distant nation,
whistles for people at the ends of the earth.
And here they come—
on the run!
None drag their feet, no one stumbles,
no one sleeps or dawdles.
Shirts are on and pants buckled,
every boot is spit-polished and tied.
Their arrows are sharp,
bows strung,
The hooves of their horses shod,
chariot wheels greased.
Roaring like a pride of lions,
the full-throated roars of young lions,
They growl and seize their prey,
dragging it off—no rescue for that one!
They’ll roar and roar and roar on that Day,
like the roar of ocean billows.
Look as long and hard as you like at that land,
you’ll see nothing but darkness and trouble.
Every light in the sky
will be blacked out by the clouds.
Isaiah 5
New International Version
Isaiah 5
New International Version
The Song of the Vineyard
5 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.(B)
He built a watchtower(C) in it
and cut out a winepress(D) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.(E)
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.(F)
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?(G)
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?(H)
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;(I)
I will break down its wall,(J)
and it will be trampled.(K)
6 I will make it a wasteland,(L)
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns(M) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain(N) on it.”
7 The vineyard(O) of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice,(P) but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness,(Q) but heard cries of distress.(R)
Woes and Judgments
8 Woe(S) to you who add house to house
and join field to field(T)
till no space is left
and you live alone in the land.
9 The Lord Almighty(U) has declared in my hearing:(V)
“Surely the great houses will become desolate,(W)
the fine mansions left without occupants.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath[a] of wine;
a homer[b] of seed will yield only an ephah[c] of grain.”(X)
11 Woe(Y) to those who rise early in the morning
to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
till they are inflamed with wine.(Z)
12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
pipes(AA) and timbrels(AB) and wine,
but they have no regard(AC) for the deeds of the Lord,
no respect for the work of his hands.(AD)
13 Therefore my people will go into exile(AE)
for lack of understanding;(AF)
those of high rank(AG) will die of hunger
and the common people will be parched with thirst.(AH)
14 Therefore Death(AI) expands its jaws,
opening wide its mouth;(AJ)
into it will descend their nobles and masses
with all their brawlers and revelers.(AK)
15 So people will be brought low(AL)
and everyone humbled,(AM)
the eyes of the arrogant(AN) humbled.
16 But the Lord Almighty will be exalted(AO) by his justice,(AP)
and the holy God will be proved holy(AQ) by his righteous acts.
17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;(AR)
lambs will feed[d] among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe(AS) to those who draw sin along with cords(AT) of deceit,
and wickedness(AU) as with cart ropes,
19 to those who say, “Let God hurry;
let him hasten(AV) his work
so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One(AW) of Israel—
let it approach, let it come into view,
so we may know it.”(AX)
20 Woe(AY) to those who call evil good(AZ)
and good evil,(BA)
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,(BB)
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.(BC)
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes(BD)
and clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine(BE)
and champions at mixing drinks,(BF)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,(BG)
but deny justice(BH) to the innocent.(BI)
24 Therefore, as tongues of fire(BJ) lick up straw(BK)
and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay(BL)
and their flowers blow away like dust;(BM)
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
and spurned the word(BN) of the Holy One(BO) of Israel.
25 Therefore the Lord’s anger(BP) burns against his people;
his hand is raised and he strikes them down.
The mountains shake,(BQ)
and the dead bodies(BR) are like refuse(BS) in the streets.(BT)
26 He lifts up a banner(BW) for the distant nations,
he whistles(BX) for those at the ends of the earth.(BY)
Here they come,
swiftly and speedily!
27 Not one of them grows tired(BZ) or stumbles,
not one slumbers or sleeps;
not a belt(CA) is loosened at the waist,(CB)
not a sandal strap is broken.(CC)
28 Their arrows are sharp,(CD)
all their bows(CE) are strung;
their horses’ hooves(CF) seem like flint,
their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.(CG)
29 Their roar is like that of the lion,(CH)
they roar like young lions;
they growl as they seize(CI) their prey
and carry it off with no one to rescue.(CJ)
30 In that day(CK) they will roar over it
like the roaring of the sea.(CL)
And if one looks at the land,
there is only darkness(CM) and distress;(CN)
even the sun will be darkened(CO) by clouds.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 5:10 That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters
- Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms
- Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
- Isaiah 5:17 Septuagint; Hebrew / strangers will eat
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.