Isaiah 5

The Song of the Vineyard

I will sing for the one I love

a song about his vineyard:^a

My loved one had a vineyard

on a fertile hillside.

He dug it up and cleared it of stones

and planted it with the choicest vines.^b

He built a watchtower^c in it

and cut out a winepress^d as well.

Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,

but it yielded only bad fruit.^e

“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.^f

What more could have been done for my vineyard

than I have done for it?^g

When I looked for good grapes,

why did it yield only bad?^h

Now I will tell you

what I am going to do to my vineyard:

I will take away its hedge,

and it will be destroyed;ⁱ

I will break down its wall,^j

and it will be trampled.^k

I will make it a wasteland,^l

neither pruned nor cultivated,

and briers and thorns^m will grow there.

I will command the clouds

not to rainⁿ on it.”

The vineyard^o of the Lord Almighty

is the house of Israel,

and the people of Judah

are the vines he delighted in.

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

for righteousness,^q but heard cries of distress.^r

Woes and Judgments

Woe^a to you who add house to house

and join field to field^b

till no space is left

and you live alone in the land.

The Lord Almighty^c has declared in my hearing:^d

“Surely the great houses will become desolate,^e

the fine mansions left without occupants.

A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine,

a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”^f

Woe^g 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.^h

They have harps and lyres at their banquets,

pipesⁱ and timbrels^j and wine,

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

no respect for the work of his hands.^l

Therefore my people will go into exile^m

for lack of understanding;ⁿ

those of high rank^o will die of hunger

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

Therefore the grave^q enlarges its appetite

and opens wide its mouth;^r

into it will descend their nobles and masses

with all their brawlers and revelers.^s

So people will be brought low^t

and everyone humbled,^u

the eyes of the arrogant^v humbled.

But the Lord Almighty will be exalted^w by his justice,^x

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

Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;^z

lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.

Woe^a to those who draw sin along with cords^b of deceit,

and wickedness^c as with cart ropes,

to those who say, “Let God hurry;

let him hasten^d his work

so we may see it.

The plan of the Holy One^e of Israel—

let it approach, let it come into view,

so we may know it.”^f

Woe^g to those who call evil good^h

and good evil,ⁱ

who put darkness for light

and light for darkness,^j

who put bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter.^k

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes^l

and clever in their own sight.

Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine^m

and champions at mixing drinks,ⁿ

who acquit the guilty for a bribe,^o

but deny justice^p to the innocent.^q

Therefore, as tongues of fire^r lick up straw^s

and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,

so their roots will decay^t

and their flowers blow away like dust;^u

for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty

and spurned the word^v of the Holy One^w of Israel.

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

his hand is raised and he strikes them down.

The mountains shake,^y

and the dead bodies^z are like refuse^a in the streets.^b

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

his hand is still upraised.^d

He lifts up a banner^e for the distant nations,

he whistles^f for those at the ends of the earth.^g

Here they come,

swiftly and speedily!

Not one of them grows tired^h or stumbles,

not one slumbers or sleeps;

not a beltⁱ is loosened at the waist,^j

not a sandal thong is broken.^k

Their arrows are sharp,^l

all their bows^m are strung;

their horses’ hoovesⁿ seem like flint,

their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.^o

Their roar is like that of the lion,^p

they roar like young lions;

they growl as they seize^q their prey

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

In that day^s they will roar over it

like the roaring of the sea.^t

And if one looks at the land,

there is only darkness^u and distress;^v

even the sun will be darkened^w by clouds.