Isaiah 5–6

The Song of the Vineyard

5I will sing for the one I love

a song about his vineyard:^r

My loved one had a vineyard

on a fertile hillside.

²He dug it up and cleared it of stones

and planted it with the choicest vines.^s

He built a watchtower^t in it

and cut out a winepress^u as well.

Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,

but it yielded only bad fruit.^v

³“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.^w

⁴What more could have been done for my vineyard

than I have done for it?^x

When I looked for good grapes,

why did it yield only bad?^y

⁵Now I will tell you

what I am going to do to my vineyard:

I will take away its hedge,

and it will be destroyed;^z

I will break down its wall,^a

and it will be trampled.^b

⁶I will make it a wasteland,^c

neither pruned nor cultivated,

and briers and thorns^d will grow there.

I will command the clouds

not to rain^e on it.”

⁷The vineyard^f of the Lord Almighty

is the nation of Israel,

and the people of Judah

are the vines he delighted in.

And he looked for justice,^g but saw bloodshed;

for righteousness,^h but heard cries of distress.ⁱ

Woes and Judgments

⁸Woe^j to you who add house to house

and join field to field^k

till no space is left

and you live alone in the land.

⁹The Lord Almighty^l has declared in my hearing:^m

“Surely the great houses will become desolate,ⁿ

the fine mansions left without occupants.

¹⁰A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath^a of wine;

a homer^b of seed will yield only an ephah^c of grain.”^o

¹¹Woe^p to those who rise early in the morning

to run after their drinks,

who stay up late at night

till they are inflamed with wine.^q

¹²They have harps and lyres at their banquets,

pipes^r and timbrels^s and wine,

but they have no regard^t for the deeds of the Lord,

no respect for the work of his hands.^u

¹³Therefore my people will go into exile^v

for lack of understanding;^w

those of high rank^x will die of hunger

and the common people will be parched with thirst.^y

¹⁴Therefore Death^z expands its jaws,

opening wide its mouth;^a

into it will descend their nobles and masses

with all their brawlers and revelers.^b

¹⁵So people will be brought low^c

and everyone humbled,^d

the eyes of the arrogant^e humbled.

¹⁶But the Lord Almighty will be exalted^f by his justice,^g

and the holy God will be proved holy^h by his righteous acts.

¹⁷Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;ⁱ

lambs will feed^d among the ruins of the rich.

¹⁸Woe^j to those who draw sin along with cords^k of deceit,

and wickedness^l as with cart ropes,

¹⁹to those who say, “Let God hurry;

let him hasten^m his work

so we may see it.

The plan of the Holy Oneⁿ of Israel—

let it approach, let it come into view,

so we may know it.”^o

²⁰Woe^p to those who call evil good^q

and good evil,^r

who put darkness for light

and light for darkness,^s

who put bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter.^t

²¹Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes^u

and clever in their own sight.

²²Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine^v

and champions at mixing drinks,^w

²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe,^x

but deny justice^y to the innocent.^z

²⁴Therefore, as tongues of fire^a lick up straw^b

and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,

so their roots will decay^c

and their flowers blow away like dust;^d

for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty

and spurned the word^e of the Holy One^f of Israel.

²⁵Therefore the Lord’s anger^g burns against his people;

his hand is raised and he strikes them down.

The mountains shake,^h

and the dead bodiesⁱ are like refuse^j in the streets.^k

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,^l

his hand is still upraised.^m

²⁶He lifts up a bannerⁿ for the distant nations,

he whistles^o for those at the ends of the earth.^p

Here they come,

swiftly and speedily!

²⁷Not one of them grows tired^q or stumbles,

not one slumbers or sleeps;

not a belt^r is loosened at the waist,^s

not a sandal strap is broken.^t

²⁸Their arrows are sharp,^u

all their bows^v are strung;

their horses’ hooves^w seem like flint,

their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.^x

²⁹Their roar is like that of the lion,^y

they roar like young lions;

they growl as they seize^z their prey

and carry it off with no one to rescue.^a

³⁰In that day^b they will roar over it

like the roaring of the sea.^c

And if one looks at the land,

there is only darkness^d and distress;^e

even the sun will be darkened^f by clouds.

Isaiah’s Commission

6In the year that King Uzziah^g died,^h I saw the Lord,ⁱ high and exalted,^j seated on a throne;^k and the train of his robe^l filled the temple. ²Above him were seraphim,^m each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,ⁿ and with two they were flying. ³And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy^o, holy is the Lord Almighty;^p

the whole earth^q is full of his glory.”^r

⁴At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.^s

⁵“Woe^t to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!^u For I am a man of unclean lips,^v and I live among a people of unclean lips,^w and my eyes have seen^x the King,^y the Lord Almighty.”^z

⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal^a in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips;^b your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.^c”

⁸Then I heard the voice^d of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?^e And who will go for us?^f”

And I said, “Here am I.^g Send me!”

⁹He said, “Go^h and tell this people:

“ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ⁱ

¹⁰Make the heart of this people calloused;^j

make their ears dull

and close their eyes.^ak

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,^l

understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”^m

¹¹Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”ⁿ

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined^o

and without inhabitant,

until the houses are left deserted^p

and the fields ruined and ravaged,^q

¹²until the Lord has sent everyone far away^r

and the land is utterly forsaken.^s

¹³And though a tenth remains^t in the land,

it will again be laid waste.^u

But as the terebinth and oak

leave stumps^v when they are cut down,

so the holy^w seed will be the stump in the land.”^x