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Now I will sing to my Beloved a song of my Beloved to His vineyard. My Beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.

And He hedged it and gathered out the stones from it. And he planted it with the best plants. And he built a tower in its midst, and made a winepress therein. Then He expected it to bring forth grapes. But it brought forth sour grapes.

“Now therefore, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.

“What more could I have done to My vineyard that I have not done to it? Why, when I expected it to bring forth grapes, has it brought forth sour grapes?

“And now I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up. I will break its wall, and it shall be trodden down.

“And I will lay it waste. It shall be neither cut nor dug, but briers and thorns shall grow up. I will also Command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.”

Surely the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the House of Israel. And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. And he looked for judgment—but behold, oppression; for righteousness—but behold, a crying.

Woe to those who join house to house, lay field to field, until there is no place that you may be placed by yourselves in the midst of the Earth.

“If not,” the LORD of Hosts said in my ears, “surely many houses shall be desolate, great and fair, without inhabitant.

10 “For ten acres of vines shall yield one bath. And the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.”

11 Woe to those who rise up early to follow drunkenness, and to those who continue until night. The wine inflames them.

12 And the harp and lyre, timbrel and pipe, and wine are in their feasts. But they do not regard the work of the LORD, or consider the work of His hands.

13 Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they had no knowledge, and their honorable men famished. And the multitude thereof is dried up with thirst.

14 Therefore Hell has enlarged itself, and has opened its mouth without measure. And their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, shall descend.

15 And man shall be brought down, and man shall be humbled. Even the eyes of the proud shall be humbled.

16 And the LORD of Hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be sanctified in justice.

17 Then shall the lambs feed in their pasture, and the strangers shall eat in the desolate places of the fat ones.

18 Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin, as with cart ropes,

19 who say, “Let Him hurry. Let him hasten His work, so that we may see it. And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, so that we may know it.”

20 Woe to those who speak good of evil, and evil of good; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for sour.

21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.

22 Woe to those who are mighty at drinking wine, and to those who are strong at mixing intoxicating drink,

23 who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous.

24 Therefore as the flame of fire devours the stubble, and the chaff is consumed by the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their bud shall rise up like dust, because they have cast off the Law of the LORD of hosts, and contemned the Word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore the wrath of the LORD is kindled against His people, and He has stretched out His hand upon them, and has struck them, so that the mountains trembled and their carcasses were torn in the middle of the streets. For all this, His wrath was not turned away, but His hand was stretched out still.

26 And He will lift up a sign to the nations from afar, and will whistle to them from the end of the Earth. And behold, they shall come quickly with speed.

27 No one shall faint or fall among them. No one shall slumber or sleep. Nor shall the belt of his loins be loosened, nor the strap of his shoes be broken.

28 Whose arrows shall be sharp, and all his bows bent. His horse’s hooves shall be thought of as flint, and his wheels like a whirlwind.

29 His roaring shall be like a lion, and he shall roar like lion’s whelps. They shall roar, and lay hold of the prey. They shall take it away, and no one shall deliver it.

30 And on that day, they shall roar upon them, as the roaring of the sea, and if they look to the Earth, behold darkness and sorrow. And the light shall be darkened in their sky.

The Song of the Vineyard

I will sing for the one I love
    a song about his vineyard:(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
    on a fertile hillside.
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)

“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard.(F)
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)
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)
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.”

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

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.

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)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,(BU)
    his hand is still upraised.(BV)

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

  1. Isaiah 5:10 That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters
  2. Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms
  3. Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
  4. Isaiah 5:17 Septuagint; Hebrew / strangers will eat