Isaiah 5
New American Standard Bible
Parable of the Vineyard
5 Let me sing now for my beloved
A song of my beloved about His vineyard.
My beloved had a (A)vineyard on [a]a fertile hill.
2 He dug it all around, cleared it of stones,
And planted it with [b]the (B)choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it,
And also carved out a [c]wine vat in it;
Then He (C)expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only [d]worthless ones.
3 “And now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
(D)Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 (E)What more was there to do for My vineyard [e]that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce [f]worthless ones?
5 So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will (F)remove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will (G)break down its wall and it will become (H)trampled ground.
6 I will (I)lay it waste;
It will not be pruned nor hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also command the clouds not to (J)rain on it.”
7 For the (K)vineyard of the Lord of armies is the house of Israel,
And the people of Judah are His delightful plant.
So He waited for justice, but behold, there was (L)bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
Woes for the Wicked
8 Woe to those who (M)attach house to house and join field to field,
Until there is no more room,
And you alone are a landowner in the midst of the land!
9 In my ears the Lord of armies has sworn, “(N)Many houses shall certainly become (O)desolate,
Even great and fine ones, without occupants.
10 For (P)ten acres of vineyard will yield only one [g]bath of wine,
And a [h](Q)homer of seed will yield only an [i]ephah of grain.”
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning so that they may pursue (R)intoxicating drink,
Who stay up late in the evening so that wine may inflame them!
12 Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and (S)harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine;
But they (T)do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord,
Nor do they consider the work of His hands.
13 Therefore My people go into exile for their (U)lack of knowledge;
And their [j](V)nobles are famished,
And their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore (W)Sheol has enlarged its [k]throat and opened its mouth beyond measure;
And [l]Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her noise of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it.
15 So the common people will be humbled and the person of importance brought low,
(X)The eyes of the haughty also will be brought low.
16 But the (Y)Lord of armies will be (Z)exalted in judgment,
And the holy God will show Himself (AA)holy in righteousness.
17 (AB)Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
And strangers will eat in the ruins of the [m]wealthy.
18 Woe to those who drag (AC)wrongdoing with the cords of [n]deceit,
And sin as if with cart ropes;
19 (AD)Who say, “Let Him hurry, let Him do His work quickly, so that we may see it;
And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach
And come to pass, so that we may know it!”
20 Woe to those who (AE)call evil good, and good evil;
Who [o](AF)substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who [p]substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are (AG)wise in their own eyes
And [q]clever in their own sight!
22 (AH)Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine,
And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink,
23 (AI)Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe,
And (AJ)take away the [r]rights of the ones who are in the right!
24 Therefore, (AK)as a tongue of fire consumes stubble,
And dry grass collapses in the flame,
So their (AL)root will become (AM)like rot, and their blossom [s]blow away like dust;
For they have (AN)rejected the Law of the Lord of armies,
And discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 For this reason the (AO)anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them.
And the (AP)mountains quaked, and their (AQ)corpses [t]lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
(AR)Despite all this, His anger [u]is not spent,
But His (AS)hand is still stretched out.
26 He will also lift up a (AT)flag to the distant [v]nation,
And (AU)whistle for it (AV)from the ends of the earth;
And behold, it will (AW)come with speed swiftly.
27 (AX)No one in it is tired or stumbles,
No one slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the (AY)undergarment at his waist loosened,
Nor his sandal strap broken.
28 [w](AZ)Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;
The hoofs of its horses [x]seem like flint, and its chariot (BA)wheels like a storm wind.
29 Its (BB)roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;
It growls as it (BC)seizes the prey
And carries it off with (BD)no one to save it.
30 And it will (BE)roar against it on that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one (BF)looks across to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 5:1 Lit horn, a son of fatness
- Isaiah 5:2 Lit a bright red grape
- Isaiah 5:2 Or wine press
- Isaiah 5:2 Or unripe
- Isaiah 5:4 Lit and I have not done
- Isaiah 5:4 Or unripe
- Isaiah 5:10 About 6 gallons or 23 liters
- Isaiah 5:10 About 7.7 cubic feet or 0.22 cubit meters or more
- Isaiah 5:10 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
- Isaiah 5:13 Lit glory is men of famine
- Isaiah 5:14 Or appetite
- Isaiah 5:14 Lit her
- Isaiah 5:17 Lit fat
- Isaiah 5:18 Or worthlessness
- Isaiah 5:20 Lit set
- Isaiah 5:20 Lit set
- Isaiah 5:21 Lit discerning
- Isaiah 5:23 Lit justice
- Isaiah 5:24 Lit ascend
- Isaiah 5:25 Lit were
- Isaiah 5:25 Lit has not turned away
- Isaiah 5:26 Lit nations; prob. Assyria
- Isaiah 5:28 Lit Which, its arrows
- Isaiah 5:28 Lit are regarded as
Isaiah 5
Revised Geneva Translation
5 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.
2 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.
3 “Now therefore, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 “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?
5 “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.
6 “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.”
7 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.
8 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.
9 “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.
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