Isaiah 5–6

The Song of the Vineyard

5I will sing a song for the Lord.

He is the one I love.

It’s a song about his vineyard Israel.

The one I love had a vineyard.

It was on a hillside that had rich soil.

²He dug up the soil and removed its stones.

He planted the very best vines in it.

He built a lookout tower there.

He also cut out a winepress for it.

Then he kept looking for a crop of good grapes.

But the vineyard produced only bad fruit.

³So the Lord said, “People of Jerusalem and Judah,

you be the judge between me and my vineyard.

⁴What more could I have done for my vineyard?

I did everything I could.

I kept looking for a crop of good grapes.

So why did it produce only bad ones?

⁵Now I will tell you

what I am going to do to my vineyard.

I will take away its fence.

And it will be destroyed.

I will break down its wall.

And people will walk all over it.

⁶I will turn my vineyard into a dry and empty desert.

It will not be pruned or taken care of.

Thorns and bushes will grow there.

I will command the clouds

not to rain on it.”

⁷The vineyard of the Lord who rules over all

is the nation of Israel.

The people of Judah

are the garden he takes delight in.

He kept looking for them to do what is fair.

But all he saw was blood being spilled.

He kept looking for them to do what is right.

But all he heard were cries of suffering.

The Lord Judges His Vineyard

⁸How terrible it will be for you who get too many houses!

How terrible for you who get too many fields!

Finally there won’t be any space left in the land.

Then you will live all alone.

⁹I heard the Lord who rules over all announce a message. He said,

“You can be sure that the great houses will become empty.

The fine homes will be left with no one living in them.

¹⁰A ten-acre vineyard will produce only six gallons of wine.

Six bushels of seeds will produce less than a bushel of grain.”

¹¹How terrible it will be for those who get up early in the morning

to start drinking!

How terrible for those who stay up late at night

until they are drunk with wine!

¹²They have harps and lyres at their big dinners.

They have tambourines, flutes and wine.

But they don’t have any concern for the mighty acts of the Lord.

They don’t have any respect for what his powerful hands have done.

¹³So my people will be taken away as prisoners.

That’s because they don’t understand what the Lord has done.

Their government leaders will die of hunger.

The rest of the people won’t have any water to drink.

¹⁴So the grave is hungry to receive them.

Its mouth is open wide to swallow them up.

Their nobles and the rest of the people will go down into it.

They will go there together with all those who have wild parties.

¹⁵So man will be brought low.

People will be put to shame.

Those who brag will be brought down.

¹⁶But the Lord who rules over all will be honored

because he judges fairly.

The holy God will show that he is holy

by doing what is right.

¹⁷Then sheep will graze as if they were in their own grasslands.

Lambs will eat grass among the destroyed buildings

where rich people used to live.

¹⁸How terrible it will be for those who continue to sin

and lie about it!

How terrible for those who keep on doing what is evil

as if they were tied to it!

¹⁹How terrible for those who say,

“Let God hurry up and do what he says he will.

We want to see it happen.

Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan soon.

We want to know what it is.”

²⁰How terrible it will be for those who say

that what is evil is good!

How terrible for those who say

that what is good is evil!

How terrible for those who say

that darkness is light

and light is darkness!

How terrible for those who say

that what is bitter is sweet

and what is sweet is bitter!

²¹How terrible it will be for those who think they are wise!

How terrible for those who think they are really clever!

²²How terrible it will be for those

who are heroes at drinking wine!

How terrible for those

who are heroes at mixing drinks!

²³How terrible for those

who take money to set guilty people free!

How terrible for those

who don’t treat good people fairly!

²⁴Flames of fire burn up straw.

Dry grass sinks down into those flames.

Evil people will be like plants whose roots rot away.

They will be like flowers that are blown away like dust.

That’s because they have said no to the law of the Lord who rules over all.

They have turned against the message of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵So the Lord’s anger burns against his people.

He raises his hand against them. He strikes them down.

The mountains shake.

The bodies of dead people lie in the streets like trash.

Even then, the Lord is still angry.

His hand is still raised against them.

²⁶He lifts up a banner to gather the nations that are far away.

He whistles for them to come

from the farthest places on earth.

Here they come.

They are moving very quickly.

²⁷None of them grows tired.

None of them falls down.

None of them sleeps or even takes a nap.

All of them are ready for battle.

Every belt is pulled tight.

Not a single sandal strap is broken.

²⁸The enemies’ arrows are sharp.

All of their bows are ready.

The hoofs of their horses are as hard as rock.

Their chariot wheels turn like a twister.

²⁹The sound of their army is like the roar of lions.

It’s like the roar of young lions.

They growl as they capture what they were chasing.

They carry it off.

No one can take it away from them.

³⁰At that time the enemy army will roar over Israel.

It will sound like the roaring of the ocean.

If someone looks at the land of Israel,

he will see darkness and trouble.

The clouds will make even the light become dark.

The Lord Appoints Isaiah to Speak for Him

6In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was seated on his throne. His long robe filled the temple. He was highly honored.

²Above him were seraphs. Each of them had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces. With two wings they covered their feet. And with two wings they were flying. ³They were calling out to one another. They were saying,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who rules over all.

The whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴The sound of their voices caused the stone doorframe to shake. The temple was filled with smoke.

⁵“How terrible it is for me!” I cried out. “I’m about to be destroyed! My mouth speaks sinful words. And I live among people who speak sinful words. Now I have seen the King with my own eyes. He is the Lord who rules over all.”

⁶A seraph flew over to me. He was holding a hot coal. He had used tongs to take it from the altar. ⁷He touched my mouth with the coal. He said, “This has touched your lips. Your guilt has been taken away. Your sin has been paid for.”

⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord. He said, “Who will I send? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me!”

⁹So he said, “Go and speak to these people. Tell them,

“ ‘You will hear but never understand.

You will see but never know what you are seeing.’

¹⁰Make the hearts of these people stubborn.

Plug up their ears.

Close their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes.

They might hear with their ears.

They might understand with their hearts.

And they might turn to me and be healed.”

¹¹Then I said, “Lord, how long will it be like that?”

He answered,

“It will last until the cities of Israel are destroyed

and no one is living in them.

It will last until the houses are deserted.

The fields will be completely destroyed.

¹²It will last until I have sent everyone far away.

The land will be totally deserted.

¹³Even if a tenth of the people remain there,

the land will be completely destroyed again.

But when oak trees and terebinth trees

are cut down, stumps are left.

And my holy people will be like stumps

that begin to grow again.”