Isaiah 4-6
Complete Jewish Bible
4 On that day, seven women will grab hold of one man and say,
“We will supply our own food
and wear our own clothes.
Just let us bear your name;
take away our disgrace.”
2 On that day, Adonai’s plant will be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the land will be the pride and splendor of Isra’el’s survivors. 3 Those left in Tziyon and remaining in Yerushalayim will be called holy, and everyone in Yerushalayim written down for life.
4 When Adonai washes away the filth of the women of Tziyon and cleanses Yerushalayim from the blood shed in it with a blast of searing judgment, 5 Adonai will create over the whole site of Mount Tziyon and over those who assemble there a smoking cloud by day and a shining, flaming fire by night; for the Glory will be over everything like a hupah. 6 A sukkah will give shade by day from the heat; it will also provide refuge and cover from storm and rain.
5 I want to sing a song for someone I love,
a song about my loved one and his vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug up its stones and cleared them away,
planted it with the choicest vines,
built a watchtower in the middle of it,
and carved out in its rock a winepress.
He expected it to produce good grapes,
but it produced only sour, wild grapes.
3 Now, citizens of Yerushalayim and people of Y’hudah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard
that I haven’t already done in it?
So why, when I expected good grapes,
did it produce sour, wild grapes?
5 Now come, I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge,
and [its grapes] will be eaten up;
I will break through its fence,
and [its vines] will be trampled down.
6 I will let it go to waste:
it will be neither pruned nor hoed,
but overgrown with briars and thorns.
I will also order the clouds
not to let rain fall on it.
7 Now the vineyard of Adonai-Tzva’ot
is the house of Isra’el,
and the men of Y’hudah
are the plant he delighted in.
So he expected justice,
but look — bloodshed! —
and righteousness, but listen —
cries of distress!
8 Woe to those who add house to house
and join field to field,
until there’s no room for anyone else,
and you live in splendor alone on your land.
9 Adonai-Tzva’ot said in my ears,
“Many houses will be brought to ruin,
large, magnificent ones left empty;
10 for a ten-acre vineyard will produce
only five gallons of wine,
and seed from five bushels of grain
will yield but half a bushel.”
11 Woe to those who get up early
to pursue intoxicating liquor;
who stay up late at night,
until wine inflames them.
12 They have lutes and lyres, drums and flutes,
and wine at their parties;
but they pay no attention to how Adonai works
and never look at what his hands have made.
13 For such lack of knowledge
my people go into exile;
this is also why their respected men starve
and their masses are parched from thirst.
14 Therefore Sh’ol has enlarged itself
and opened its limitless jaws —
and down go their nobles and masses,
along with their noise and revels.
15 The masses are lowered, the nobles are humbled —
proud looks will be brought down.
16 But Adonai-Tzva’ot is exalted through justice,
God the Holy One is consecrated through righteousness.
17 Then lambs will be able to feed
as if they were in their own pasture,
and those wandering through will eat
from the ruined fields of the overfed.
18 Woe to those who begin by pulling
at transgression with a thread,
but end by dragging sin along
as if with a cart rope.
19 They say, “We want God to speed up his work,
to hurry it along, so we can see it!
We want the Holy One of Isra’el’s plan
to come true right now, so we can be sure of it!”
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who change darkness into light
and light into darkness,
who change bitter into sweet
and sweet into bitter!
21 Woe to those seeing themselves as wise,
esteeming themselves as clever.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
men whose power goes to mixing strong drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for bribes
but deny justice to the righteous!
24 Therefore, as fire licks up the stubble,
and the chaff is consumed in the flame;
so their root will rot,
and their flowers scatter like dust;
because they have rejected the Torah
of Adonai-Tzva’ot,
they have despised the word
of the Holy One of Isra’el.
25 This is why Adonai’s anger blazed up against his people,
why he stretched out his hand against them and struck them
[so hard that] the hills shook,
and corpses lay like trash in the streets.
Even after all this, his anger remains,
his upraised hand still threatens.
26 He will give a signal to faraway nations,
he will whistle for them to come
from the ends of the earth;
and here they come, so fast! —
27 none of them tired or stumbling,
none of them sleeping or drowsy,
none with a loose belt,
none with a broken sandal-strap.
28 Their arrows are sharp,
all their bows are strung,
their horses’ hoofs are like flint,
and their [chariot] wheels like a whirlwind.
29 They will roar like lions —
yes, roaring like young lions,
they growl and seize the prey
and carry it off, with no one to rescue.
30 On that day they will growl at them,
like the sea when it growls —
and when one looks toward land,
one sees darkness closing in;
the light is dissipated
in the obscuring overcast.
6 In the year of King ‘Uziyahu’s death I saw Adonai sitting on a high, lofty throne! The hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 S’rafim stood over him, each with six wings — two for covering his face, two for covering his feet and two for flying. 3 They were crying out to each other,
“More holy than the holiest holiness
is Adonai-Tzva’ot!
The whole earth is filled
with his glory!”
4 The doorposts shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said,
“Woe to me! I [too] am doomed! —
because I, a man with unclean lips,
living among a people with unclean lips,
have seen with my own eyes
the King, Adonai-Tzva’ot!”
6 One of the s’rafim flew to me with a glowing coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said,
“Here! This has touched your lips.
Your iniquity is gone,
your sin is atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of Adonai saying,
“Whom should I send?
Who will go for us?”
I answered, “I’m here, send me!” 9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
‘Yes, you hear, but you don’t understand.
You certainly see, but you don’t get the point!’
10 “Make the heart of this people [sluggish with] fat,
stop up their ears, and shut their eyes.
Otherwise, seeing with their eyes,
and hearing with their ears,
then understanding with their hearts,
they might repent and be healed!”
11 I asked, “Adonai, how long?” and he answered,
“Until cities become uninhabited ruins,
houses without human presence,
the land utterly wasted;
12 until Adonai drives the people far away,
and the land is one vast desolation.
13 If even a tenth [of the people] remain,
it will again be devoured.
“But like a pistachio tree or an oak,
whose trunk remains alive
after its leaves fall off,
the holy seed will be its trunk.”
Yeshayah 4-6
Orthodox Jewish Bible
4 And in Yom Hahu (that day) sheva nashim (seven women) shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own lechem, and wear our own clothes; only let us be called by thy shem, to take away our disgrace.
2 In Yom Hahu shall the Tzemach Hashem be beautiful and glorious [See the word “kavod,” Isaiah 11:10], and the p’ri ha’aretz shall be the ga’on (pride) and glory for them that are escaped [see the word she’ar remnant, Isaiah 11:11] of Yisroel.
3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Tziyon, and he that remaineth in Yerushalayim, shall be called kadosh, even every one that is hakatuv lachayyim (recorded for life….Rosh Hashana theme, see Shemot 32:32; Tehillim 69:28; Daniel 12:1; Malachi 3:16) in Yerushalayim:
4 When Adonoi shall have washed away the filth of the Banot Tziyon, and shall have purged the dahm of Yerushalayim from the midst thereof by the Ruach Mishpat, and by the Ruach Ba’er (Spirit of Burning).
5 And Hashem will create upon the whole place of Mt Tziyon, and upon her assemblies, an anan and smoke by yom, and the shining of a flaming eish by lailah; for upon all the kavod shall be a Chuppah.
6 And there shall be a Sukkah for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
5 Now will I sing of my beloved a shirat dodi touching His kerem (vineyard). My beloved had a kerem (vineyard) in a very fruitful hill;
2 And He dug it up, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a migdal in the midst of it, and also made a yekev (winepress) therein; and He looked that it should bring forth anavim (grapes), and it brought forth b’ushim (wild grapes).
3 And now, O inhabitants of Yerushalayim, and Ish Yehudah, judge, now, between Me and My kerem (vineyard).
4 What could have been done more to My kerem (vineyard), that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked that it should bring forth anavim, brought it forth b’ushim?
5 And now then; I will tell you now what I will do to my kerem (vineyard): I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be grazed upon; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trampled down;
6 And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned, nor cultivated; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no matar (rain) upon it.
7 For the Kerem Hashem Tzva’os is Bais Yisroel, and the Ish Yehudah are the planting of His delight; and He looked for mishpat (justice), but, hinei, mishpach (bloodshed, rapaciousness); for tzedakah, but, hinei, tze’akah (cry of distress).
8 Hoy unto them that add bais to bais, that join sadeh to sadeh, till there be no makom (place, home), that ye alone are dwelling in the midst of ha’aretz!
9 Hashem Tzva’os said in my ozen, Batim rabbim shall be in ruins, gedolim and tovim, with no one to live in them.
10 Yea, ten yokes of kerem (vineyard) shall yield 10 gallons, and the homer (six bushels) of zera (seed) shall yield an ephah (three-fifths bushel).
11 Hoy unto them that rise up early in the boker, that they may chase after shekhar (strong drink); that continue until night, till yayin inflame them!
12 And the kinnor, and the nevel, the tambourine, and flute, and yayin, are in their mishtehim; but they regard not the Po’al Hashem (the work of Hashem), neither consider the ma’aseh of His hands.
13 Therefore my people [see Isa. 53:8] are gone into the Golus, because they have no da’as; and their men of rank are starved, and their multitude parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without chok (limit); and their nobility, and their masses, and their throngs, and the reveler, shall descend into it.
15 And adam shall be abased, and the ish shall be brought low, and the eyes of the haughty shall be humbled;
16 But Hashem Tzva’os shall be exalted in mishpat, and HaEl HaKadosh shall show Himself Kadosh in tzedakah.
17 Then shall the kevasim feed as upon their pasture, and the gerim (sojourners) will eat in the ruins of the rich.
18 Hoy unto them that draw avon (guilt) with cords of deceit, and tug at chatta’ah (sin) as with a cart rope;
19 That say, Let Him make speed, and hasten His Ma’aseh, that we may see it; and let the Atzat Kadosh Yisroel (purpose of the Holy One of Israel) draw near and come, that we may know it!
20 Hoy unto them that call rah tov, and tov rah; that put choshech for ohr, and ohr for choshech; that put mar for matok, and matok for mar!
21 Hoy unto them that are chachamim in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight!
22 Hoy unto them that are Gibborim to drink yayin, and anshei chayil to mix shekhar;
23 Which justify the rasha for shochad (bribe), and take away the tzidkat tzaddikim from him!
24 Therefore as the eish licketh up the stubble, and the flame consumeth the dry grass, so their shoresh shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the Torat Hashem Tzva’os, and spurned the word of the Kadosh Yisroel.
25 Therefore is the Af Hashem kindled against His people, and He hath stretched forth His yad against them, and hath struck them down; and the mountains did tremble, and their nevilah were like refuse in the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His yad is stretched out still.
26 And He will lift up a banner to the distant Goyim, and will whistle for him at the ketzeh ha’aretz; hinei, they shall come with speed swiftly;
27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the ezor of their loins be loosed, nor the thong of their sandals be broken;
28 Whose khitzim (arrows) are sharp, and all their bows bent, the hoofs of their susim shall seem like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:
29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the teref, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
30 And in Yom Hahu they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if one look unto ha’aretz, hinei, choshech and tzar (distress), and the ohr groweth dark with clouds.
6 In the year that the Melech Uziyah died, I saw Adonoi sitting upon a kisse, high and lifted up, and His robe filled the Heikhal.
2 Above Him stood ministering the [flaming] seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, is Hashem Tzva’os; kol ha’aretz is full of His kavod.
4 And the doorposts shook at the voice of him that cried, and the Beis [Hamikdash] was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Oy (Woe) is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen HaMelech, Hashem Tzva’os.
6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his yad, which he had taken with the tongs from off the Mizbe’ach:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Hinei, this hath touched thy lips; and thine avon (iniquity) is taken away, and kapporah is made for the purging of thy chattat (sin).
8 Also I heard the voice of Adonoi, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? Then said I, Hineini; send me.
9 And He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the lev HaAm hazeh stubborn, and make their ears stopped up, their eyes heavy; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their lev. And have a spiritual turnaround conversion, and be healed.
11 Then cried I, Adonoi, ad mosai (how much longer [will this go on]? And He answered, Until the towns be wasted without inhabitant, and the batim (houses) are without man, and the ground be utterly desolate, a wilderness,
12 And Hashem have removed men far away, and there be many forsaken places within the land.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall be given up to destruction, like the terebinth and like the oak, when they are felled, leave [as a remnant] a root-stump: so the root-stump shall be the zera kodesh. [T.N. This next chapter is possibly the most important in the Bible and is dealt with in The Translator to the Reader.]
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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