Isaiah Chapter 5
The Song of the Vineyard
1 For the one I love, let me sing a song about his vineyard:
The one I love had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2 He spaded up the ground, picked up the rocks,
and planted the best grapevines in it;
he built a tower there
and hewed out a stone wine vat;
he expected it to produce good grapes,
but it produced wild ones.
Is 5:1-2
3 “People in Judah and Jerusalem,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What could I have done for it that I didn’t do?
Why did it produce bitter grapes instead of sweet ones?
5 Let me tell you what I’m going to do with it:
I’ll cut down the hedge around it and burn it;
I’ll tear down the wall
and let animals trample it.
6 I won’t take care of it, prune it, or hoe it;
briars and thorns will take it over;
I’ll tell the clouds not to rain on it anymore.”
Is 5:3-6
7 Israel is Yahveh’s vineyard;
the people in Judah are his delightful garden;
so he looked for justice but saw bloodshed;
he expected goodness but heard cries of distress.
Judah’s Guilt and Judgment
8 Misfortune awaits you that buy up houses and fields
till there’s none left to buy,
and you’re living alone.
9 I’ve heard Yahveh of Hosts swear,
“Lots of houses will be empty, even big, nice ones;
10 ten acres of vineyard will only produce 9 gallons 1 bath of wine;
11 bushels 1 homer of seed will only yield 1.1 bushels 1 ephah of grain.”
11 Misfortune awaits those who get up early to drink alcohol
and stay up late to get drunk on wine.
12 Their banquets feature lyres and harps,
tambourines and flutes—and wine;
but they give no thought to Yahveh
or pay attention to what he’s doing.
Is 5:7-12
13 So my people will go into exile for ignoring me;
their honored ones will starve;
their common people will be parched with thirst.
14 Sheol will increase its appetite and eat its fill;
Jerusalem’s nobles and celebrating throngs will go down to it.
15 Commoners will be humbled,
important people abased,
proud ones brought low.
16 But Yahveh of Hosts will be exalted by his judgments;
the holy God will display his holiness by his goodness.
17 Then lambs will graze in their pasture;
foreigners will eat among the ruins of the wealthy.
Is 5:13-17
18 Misfortune awaits those who pull iniquity
behind them with ropes made out of lies,
who harness falsehood
and hook up their carts to sin,
19 who say, “Let the Holy One of Israel hurry
so we can see what he’s doing;
let his purpose come close
so we can find out what it is!”
20 Misfortune awaits those
who call bad good and good bad,
who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness,
who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
21 Misfortune’s in store for people that think they’re smart,
that consider themselves clever.
22 Misfortune comes on winners at wine drinking
and champions at mixing drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe
and deprive the innocent of justice.
Is 5:18-23
24So, like a flame ignites stubble
and dry grass shrivels up in fire,
their roots will rot,
and their blossoms will go up like smoke.
They’ve rejected Yahveh’s Law
and despised the message of the Holy One of Israel;
25 so his anger has burned against his people,
and he’s reached out to strike them down.
The mountains quake;
corpses litter the streets like garbage.
His anger hasn’t turned away;
his fist is still raised.
Is 5:24-25
26 He’ll signal to a far-off country;
he’ll whistle for it to come from a remote land
and to do it swiftly and soon.
27 Nobody from there will get tired or stumble,
rest or sleep;
there won’t be one loose belt or broken sandal strap.
28 Its arrows will be sharp; its bows bent;
its horses’ hoofs will spark like flint;
its chariot wheels will spin like tornadoes.
29 It will roar like a lioness, like a young lion;
it’ll growl when it seizes prey and carries it off;
nobody will be able stop it.
30 It will growl over its prey like the ocean roars;
on land, there’ll be darkness and distress;
clouds will block out the light.
Is 5:26-30