Isaiah 5
Christian Standard Bible
Song of the Vineyard
5 I will sing about the one I love,
a song about my loved one’s vineyard:(A)
The one I love had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,
and planted it with the finest vines.(B)
He built a tower in the middle of it
and even dug out a winepress there.
He expected(C) it to yield good grapes,
but it yielded worthless grapes.(D)
3 So now, residents of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
please judge between me
and my vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard
than I did?(E)
Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge,(F)
and it will be consumed;
I will tear down its wall,(G)
and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland.(H)
It will not be pruned or weeded;
thorns and briers will grow up.(I)
I will also give orders to the clouds
that rain should not fall on it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies
is the house of Israel,(J)
and the men[a] of Judah,
the plant he delighted in.
He expected justice
but saw injustice;
he expected righteousness
but heard cries of despair.
Judah’s Sins Denounced
8 Woe to those who add house to house(K)
and join field to field
until there is no more room
and you alone are left in the land.
9 I heard the Lord of Armies say:
Indeed, many houses(L) will become desolate,
grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.
10 For a ten-acre[b] vineyard will yield
only six gallons of wine,[c]
and ten bushels[d] of seed will yield
only one bushel of grain.[e]
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of beer,(M)
who linger into the evening,
inflamed by wine.
12 At their feasts they have lyre, harp,
tambourine, flute, and wine.
They do not perceive the Lord’s actions,(N)
and they do not see the work of his hands.(O)
13 Therefore my people will go into exile
because they lack knowledge;(P)
her[f] dignitaries are starving,
and her masses are parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws,(Q)
and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses,
her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!
15 Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled,
and haughty eyes are humbled.(R)
16 But the Lord of Armies is exalted by his justice,(S)
and the holy God(T) demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.(U)
17 Lambs will graze
as if in[g] their own pastures,(V)
and resident aliens[h] will eat
among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who drag iniquity
with cords of deceit(W)
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19 to those who say,
“Let him hurry up and do his work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan(X) of the Holy One of Israel(Y) take place
so that we can know it!”
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,(Z)
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to those who consider themselves wise
and judge themselves clever.[i](AA)
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are champions at pouring beer,(AB)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe(AC)
and deprive the innocent of justice.
24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected(AD)
the instruction of the Lord of Armies,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.(AE)
25 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned(AF) against his people.
He raised his hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,(AG)
and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.(AH)
26 He raises a signal flag for the distant nations(AI)
and whistles(AJ) for them from the ends of the earth.
Look—how quickly and swiftly they come!
27 None of them grows weary or stumbles;(AK)
no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose
and no sandal strap broken.
28 Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows strung.
Their horses’ hooves are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion’s;(AL)
they roar like young lions;(AM)
they growl and seize their prey
and carry it off,
and no one can rescue it.
30 On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds.[j]
Isaiah 5
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
5 I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my cousin concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place.
2 And he fenced it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst thereof, and set up a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it broutht forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and ye men of Juda, judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it?
5 And now I will shew you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted: I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down.
6 And I will make it desolate: it shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged: but briers and thorns shall come up: and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel: and the man of Juda, his pleasant plant: and I looked that he should do judgment, and behold iniquity: and do justice, and behold a cry.
8 Woe to you that join house to house and lay field to field, even to the end of the place: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth?
9 These things are in my ears, saith the Lord of hosts: unless many great and fair houses shall become desolate, without an inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one little measure, and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels.
11 Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness, and to drink till the evening, to be inflamed with wine.
12 The harp, and the lyre, and the timbrel, and the pipe, and wine are in your feasts: and the work of the Lord you regard not, nor do you consider the works of his hands.
13 Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge, and their nobles have perished with famine, and their multitude were dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore hath hell enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth without any bounds, and their strong ones, and their people, and their high and glorious ones shall go down into it.
15 And man shall be brought down, and man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low.
16 And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be sanctified in justice.
17 And the lambs shall feed according to their order, and strangers shall eat the deserts turned into fruitfulness.
18 Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as the rope of a cart.
19 That say: Let him make haste, and let his work come quickly, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it.
20 Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own conceits.
22 Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine, and stout men at drunkenness.
23 That justify the wicked for gifts, and take away the justice of the just from him.
24 Therefore as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and the heat of the dame consumeth it: so shall their root be as ashes, and their bud shall go up as dust: for they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and have blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore is the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched out his hand upon them, and struck them: and the mountains were troubled, and their carcasses became as dung in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
26 And he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth: and behold they shall come with speed swiftly.
27 There is none that shall faint, nor labour among them: they shall not slumber nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken.
28 Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs of their horses shall be like the hint, and their wheels like the violence of a tempest.
29 Their roaring like that of a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea they shall roar, and take hold of the prey, and they shall keep fast hold of it, and there shall be none to deliver it.
30 And they shall make a noise against them that day, like the roaring of the sea; we shall look towards the land, and behold darkness of tribulation, and the light is darkened with the mist thereof.
Isaiah 5
New King James Version
God’s Disappointing Vineyard
5 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved (A)regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
[a]On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also [b]made a winepress in it;
(B)So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
(C)Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in (D)it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
(E)I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it (F)waste;
It shall not be pruned or [c]dug,
But there shall come up briers and (G)thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, [d]a cry for help.
Impending Judgment on Excesses
8 Woe to those who [e]join (H)house to house;
They add field to field,
Till there is no place
Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
9 (I)In my hearing the Lord of hosts said,
“Truly, many houses shall be desolate,
Great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one (J)bath,[f]
And a homer of seed shall yield one [g]ephah.”
11 (K)Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
That they may [h]follow intoxicating drink;
Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!
12 (L)The harp and the strings,
The tambourine and flute,
And wine are in their feasts;
But (M)they do not regard the work of the Lord,
Nor consider the operation of His hands.
13 (N)Therefore my people have gone into captivity,
Because they have no (O)knowledge;
Their honorable men are famished,
And their multitude dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself
And opened its mouth beyond measure;
Their glory and their multitude and their pomp,
And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it.
15 People shall be brought down,
(P)Each man shall be humbled,
And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be (Q)exalted in judgment,
And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.
17 Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture,
And in the waste places of (R)the [i]fat ones strangers shall eat.
18 Woe to those who [j]draw iniquity with cords of [k]vanity,
And sin as if with a cart rope;
19 (S)That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work,
That we may see it;
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come,
That we may know it.”
20 Woe 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!
21 Woe to those who are (T)wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine,
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
23 Who (U)justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!
24 Therefore, (V)as the [l]fire devours the stubble,
And the flame consumes the chaff,
So (W)their root will be as rottenness,
And their blossom will ascend like dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 (X)Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people;
He has stretched out His hand against them
And stricken them,
And (Y)the hills trembled.
Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets.
(Z)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
26 (AA)He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar,
And will (AB)whistle to them from (AC)the end of the earth;
Surely (AD)they shall come with speed, swiftly.
27 No one will be weary or stumble among them,
No one will slumber or sleep;
Nor (AE)will the belt on their loins be loosed,
Nor the strap of their sandals be broken;
28 (AF)Whose arrows are sharp,
And all their bows bent;
Their horses’ hooves will [m]seem like flint,
And their wheels like a whirlwind.
29 Their roaring will be like a lion,
They will roar like young lions;
Yes, they will roar
And lay hold of the prey;
They will carry it away safely,
And no one will deliver.
30 In that day they will roar against them
Like the roaring of the sea.
And if one (AG)looks to the land,
Behold, darkness and [n]sorrow;
And the light is darkened by the clouds.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 5:1 Lit. In a horn, the son of fatness
- Isaiah 5:2 Lit. hewed out
- Isaiah 5:6 hoed
- Isaiah 5:7 wailing
- Isaiah 5:8 Accumulate houses
- Isaiah 5:10 1 bath=1⁄10 homer
- Isaiah 5:10 1 ephah=1⁄10 homer
- Isaiah 5:11 pursue
- Isaiah 5:17 Lit. fatlings, rich ones
- Isaiah 5:18 drag
- Isaiah 5:18 emptiness or falsehood
- Isaiah 5:24 Lit. tongue of fire
- Isaiah 5:28 Lit. be regarded as
- Isaiah 5:30 distress
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
