Sången om Herrens vingård

Nu vill jag sjunga om min älskade,
min älskades sång om hans vingård:
Min älskade hade en vingård på en bördig bergskulle.
Han grävde upp den och rensade den från stenar
och planterade där ädla vinstockar.
    Han byggde ett vakttorn mitt i den
och högg ut ett presskar.
    Sedan väntade han att den skulle bära äkta druvor,
men den bar vilddruvor.

Och nu, Jerusalems invånare och Juda män,
döm mellan mig och min vingård.
Vad kunde mer göras för min vingård
än vad jag har gjort för den?
    Varför bar den vilddruvor,
när jag väntade att den skulle bära äkta druvor?
Jag vill nu låta er veta
    vad jag skall göra med min vingård:
Jag skall ta bort stängslet,
    och den skall bli ödelagd.
Jag skall bryta ner muren,
    och den skall bli nertrampad.
Jag skall ödelägga den,
    ingen skall beskära den eller gräva i den.
Men tistel och törne skall komma upp,
och jag skall befalla molnen
    att inte låta det regna på den.

Herren Sebaots vingård är Israels hus
och Juda folk hans älsklingsplantering.
Han väntade laglydnad
    men fann blodiga lagbrott,
han väntade rättfärdighet
    men fann skriande orättfärdighet.

Domsord över ogudaktigheten

Ve er som lägger hus till hus
    och fogar åker till åker,
till dess inget utrymme längre finns
och ni är de enda som bor i landet.
Från Herren Sebaot ljuder det i mina öron:
Sannerligen, många hus skall bli öde,
stora och vackra hus utan invånare.
10 En vingård på tio plogland[a]
    skall ge endast ett batmått,
och en homers utsäde skall ge endast en efa.

11 Ve dem som stiger upp tidigt på morgonen
för att jaga efter starka drycker
    och sitter uppe till sena natten,
upphettade av vin!
12 Vid sina dryckeslag har de harpor och psaltare,
pukor, flöjter och vin.
    Men Herrens gärningar bryr de sig inte om,
hans händers verk intresserar dem inte.
13 Därför skall mitt folk föras bort i fångenskap,
ty de saknar kunskap.
    Dess ädlingar skall lida hunger
och dess larmande skaror försmäkta av törst.
14 Därför ökar dödsriket sitt begär,
    och spärrar upp sitt gap utan gräns.
Stadens främsta måste fara dit ner
    tillsammans med de larmande och bullrande skaror
som jublar därinne.
15 Människorna skall bli nerböjda,
    var och en förödmjukad.
Ja, de stoltas ögon skall förödmjukas.
16 Men Herren Sebaot blir upphöjd genom sin dom,
Gud, den Helige, bevisar sig helig genom rättfärdighet.
17 Då skall lammen beta som på sin egen mark,
och på de rikas ödetomter skall främlingar få sin föda.

18 Ve dem som drar fram missgärning
med lögnens band
    och synd som med vagnslinor,
19 dem som säger: "Låt honom hasta,
låt honom skynda med sitt verk,
    så att vi får se det.
Låt det som Israels Helige beslutat
    närma sig och komma,
så att vi lär känna det!"

20 Ve dem som kallar det onda gott
    och det goda ont,
som gör mörker till ljus och ljus till mörker,
som gör bittert till sött och sött till bittert!

21 Ve dem som är visa i sina egna ögon
och håller sig själva för kloka!

22 Ve dem som är hjältar i att dricka vin
och duktiga att blanda starka drycker,
23 dem som för mutor frikänner den skyldige
och berövar den rättfärdige hans rätt.

24 Liksom eldsflamman förtär strå
    och halm sjunker ihop i lågan,
så skall deras rot ruttna bort
    och deras blomning flyga i väg som stoft,
eftersom de förkastade Herren Sebaots lag
och föraktade Israels Heliges ord.
25 Därför brinner Herrens vrede mot hans folk,
och han räcker ut sin hand mot det och slår det,
så att bergen darrar
    och döda kroppar ligger som orenhet på gatorna.
Med allt detta upphör inte hans vrede,
hans hand är ännu uträckt.

26 Han reser ett baner för hednafolken i fjärran
och lockar på dem från jordens ände.
Och se, de kommer snabbt och med hast.
27 Ingen ibland dem är trött eller stapplar,
ingen slumrar eller sover.
    Bältet kring deras höfter lossnar inte,
deras skoremmar går inte av.
28 Deras pilar är skarpa,
    alla deras bågar är spända.
Hovarna på deras hästar är som av flinta,
deras vagnshjul liknar stormvinden.
29 Deras rop är som en lejoninnas rytande.
De ryter som unga lejon,
    ja, de morrar och griper sitt rov och bär bort det,
och ingen finns som räddar.
30 På den dagen skall det dåna mot dem,
likt havets dånande.
    Ser man ut över landet,
är där mörker och kval,
    ljuset förmörkas av töcken.

Footnotes

  1. Jesaja 5:10 plogland Ett "plogland" var den yta som ett par oxar kunde plöja på en dag.

The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard

Let me sing for my beloved

    my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
    and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
    and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded wild grapes.

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and people of Judah,
judge between me
    and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard
    that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?

And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
    and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
    but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
    but heard a cry!

Social Injustice Denounced

Ah, you who join house to house,
    who add field to field,
until there is room for no one but you,
    and you are left to live alone
    in the midst of the land!
The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
Surely many houses shall be desolate,
    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
    and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.[a]

11 Ah, you who rise early in the morning
    in pursuit of strong drink,
who linger in the evening
    to be inflamed by wine,
12 whose feasts consist of lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine,
but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
    or see the work of his hands!
13 Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge;
their nobles are dying of hunger,
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.

14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
    and opened its mouth beyond measure;
the nobility of Jerusalem[b] and her multitude go down,
    her throng and all who exult in her.
15 People are bowed down, everyone is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
16 But the Lord of hosts is exalted by justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.
17 Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture,
    fatlings and kids[c] shall feed among the ruins.

18 Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood,
    who drag sin along as with cart ropes,
19 who say, “Let him make haste,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment,
    that we may know it!”
20 Ah, you 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 Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes,
    and shrewd in your own sight!
22 Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine
    and valiant at mixing drink,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of their rights!

Foreign Invasion Predicted

24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will become rotten,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts,
    and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them;
    the mountains quaked,
and their corpses were like refuse
    in the streets.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

26 He will raise a signal for a nation far away,
    and whistle for a people at the ends of the earth;
Here they come, swiftly, speedily!
27 None of them is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a loincloth is loose,
    not a sandal-thong broken;
28 their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses’ hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels like the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize their prey,
    they carry it off, and no one can rescue.
30 They will roar over it on that day,
    like the roaring of the sea.
And if one look to the land—
    only darkness and distress;
and the light grows dark with clouds.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:10 The Heb bath, homer, and ephah are measures of quantity
  2. Isaiah 5:14 Heb her nobility
  3. Isaiah 5:17 Cn Compare Gk: Heb aliens

The Lord’s Vineyard

I will sing[a] for my beloved
    my love-song concerning his vineyard:

“The one I love had a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
He plowed its land[b] and cleared it of stones.
    Then he planted it with the choicest vines,
built a watchtower in the middle of it,
    and dug a wine vat in it;
He expected[c] it to produce good[d] grapes,
    but it produced only wild ones.”[e]

“So now, you inhabitants[f] of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge, won’t you please,
    between me and my vineyard.
What more could I do in[g] my vineyard,
    that I haven’t already done?
When I expected it to produce good[h] grapes,
    why did it yield[i] wild ones?[j]

“Now, let me tell you, won’t you please,
    what I’m going to do to my vineyard.

“I’m going to take away its protective hedge,
    and it will be devoured;[k]
I’ll break down its wall,
    and it will be trampled.
I’ll make it a wasteland,
    and it won’t be pruned or cultivated.
Instead, briers and thorns will grow up.
    I’ll also issue commands to the clouds,
        that they drop no rain upon it.”

For the vineyard of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are the garden in which he delights.[l]
He looked for justice,
    but saw only bloodshed;
he searched[m] for righteousness,
    but heard only an outcry!

Judgment on Land Barons

“How terrible it will be for you who join house to house,
    who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
    and you have settled yourselves alone[n]
        in the middle of the land!”

The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it:

“Surely many houses will become desolate,
    great and beautiful houses,
        without occupants.
10 For ten acres of vineyard will produce only one bath,[o]
    and one omer[p] of seed[q] will produce only one ephah.”[r]

Judgment on Alcoholics

11 “How terrible it will be for those who rise at dawn
    in order to grab[s] a stiff drink,
for those who stay up late at night
    as wine inflames them!
12 They have the lyre and harp,
    the tambourine and flute,
        as well as wine at their festivals,
but they don’t respect what the Lord is doing,
    nor do they consider his actions.[t]
13 Therefore my people go into exile
    because they lack understanding;
my[u] honored men go hungry,
    and the crowd is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol’s[v] appetite has grown;
    it has opened its mouth beyond limit.
Jerusalem’s nobility and her multitudes will go there,
    along with her brawlers and whoever is reveling within her.
15 Humanity is brought low,
    and each one is humbled,
        while the eyes of the self-exalting are brought low.

16 But the Lord of the Heavenly Armies is exalted in justice,
    and the Holy God proves himself to be righteously holy.
17 Then the lambs will graze in their pasture;
    fatlings and foreigners will eat
        among the waste places of the rich.”

Judgment on Mockers

18 “How terrible it will be for those who parade iniquity with cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin along as[w] with a cart rope;
19 who say: ‘Let God[x] be quick,
    let him speed up[y] his work
        so we may see it!
Let it happen!
    let the plan of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
        so we may recognize it!’”

Judgment on Moral Relativists

20 “How terrible it will be for those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who substitute darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who substitute what is bitter for what is sweet
    and what is sweet for what is bitter!”

Judgment on the Arrogant

21 “How terrible it will be for those who are wise in their own opinion,
    and clever in their own reckoning!

22 “How terrible it will be for those who are heroes at drinking wine,
    and champions in mixing strong drink,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of justice!”

The Effects of Divine Judgment

24 Therefore, as flames of fire devour straw,
    as dry grass[z] collapses in flames,
so their root will be rotten,
    and their blossom will blow away like dust,
because they have rejected the instruction[aa] of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
    and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore[ab] the anger of the Lord[ac] burned against his people,
    so he stretched out his hands[ad] against them
        and afflicted them.
The mountains quaked,
    and their corpses were like refuse
        in the middle of the streets.

Throughout all of this, his anger has not turned away,
    and his hands are[ae] still stretched out to attack.[af]

26 The Lord[ag] will signal[ah] for nations far away,
    whistling for them to come[ai]
        from the ends of the earth.
Look how quickly
    and how swiftly they come!
27 No one is weary, no one stumbles,[aj]
    and no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt around their waists will come undone,
    nor will their sandal straps be broken.
28 Their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows ready for action.[ak]
Their horses’ hooves seem like flint,
    and their chariot wheels spin[al] like a whirlwind.
29 With a roar like a lion, they snarl,
    and like young lions, they growl;[am]
they seize their prey
    and then carry it off,
        with no one to rescue.
30 They will roar over it[an] at that time,[ao]
    like the sea waves roar.
If one surveys the land, watch out!
    There’s darkness and distress;
        even the daylight is darkened by its clouds.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:1 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Please, let me sing
  2. Isaiah 5:2 1QIsaa MT lack its land
  3. Isaiah 5:2 Or waited for
  4. Isaiah 5:2 1QIsaa MT lack good
  5. Isaiah 5:2 I.e. grapes unsuitable for wine making
  6. Isaiah 5:3 So 1QIsaa; MT reads inhabitant
  7. Isaiah 5:4 So 1QIsaa; MT reads for
  8. Isaiah 5:4 1QIsaa MT lack good
  9. Isaiah 5:4 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read produce
  10. Isaiah 5:4 I.e. grapes unsuitable for wine making
  11. Isaiah 5:5 So 1QIsaa; MT reads will be for devouring; LXX reads will be for plundering
  12. Isaiah 5:7 So 1QIsaa; MT reads his delightful garden
  13. Isaiah 5:7 1QIsaa MT lack he searched
  14. Isaiah 5:8 So 1QIsaa; MT reads you are made to live alone
  15. Isaiah 5:10 I.e. about six gallons
  16. Isaiah 5:10 I.e. about ten bushels
  17. Isaiah 5:10 1QIsaa MT lack of seed
  18. Isaiah 5:10 I.e. about one tenth of what was sown
  19. Isaiah 5:11 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX may run after
  20. Isaiah 5:12 Lit. consider the work of his hands
  21. Isaiah 5:13 So 1QIsaa; MT reads their
  22. Isaiah 5:14 I.e. the realm of the dead
  23. Isaiah 5:18 1QIsaa MT lack as
  24. Isaiah 5:19 Lit. him
  25. Isaiah 5:19 So 1QIsaa; MT reads hurry
  26. Isaiah 5:24 So MT; 1QIsaa reads fire
  27. Isaiah 5:24 Or law
  28. Isaiah 5:25 So 1QIsaa MT; LXX reads And
  29. Isaiah 5:25 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsab LXX read Lord of the Heavenly Armies
  30. Isaiah 5:25 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read hand
  31. Isaiah 5:25 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read his hand is
  32. Isaiah 5:25 DSS MT lack to attack
  33. Isaiah 5:26 Lit. He
  34. Isaiah 5:26 Lit. will send up a signal
  35. Isaiah 5:26 1QIsaa MT lack to come
  36. Isaiah 5:27 So 1QIsaa; MT reads stumbles among them
  37. Isaiah 5:28 Lit. bows bent
  38. Isaiah 5:28 DSS MT lack spin
  39. Isaiah 5:29 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Their roaring is like a lion; like young lions they roar. They growl
  40. Isaiah 5:30 I.e. over conquered Judah
  41. Isaiah 5:30 Lit. it on that day