Isaiah 5

¹Let me make a song about my loved one, a song of love for his vine-garden. My loved one had a vine-garden on a fertile hill:

²And after working the earth of it with a spade, he took away its stones, and put in it a very special vine; and he put up a watchtower in the middle of it, hollowing out in the rock a place for the grape-crushing; and he was hoping that it would give the best grapes, but it gave common grapes.

³And now, you people of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, be the judges between me and my vine-garden.

⁴Is there anything which might have been done for my vine-garden which I have not done? why then, when I was hoping for the best grapes did it give me common grapes?

⁵And now, this is what I will do to my vine-garden: I will take away the circle of thorns round it, and it will be burned up; its wall will be broken down and the beasts of the field will go through it;

⁶And I will make it waste; its branches will not be touched with the knife, or the earth worked with the spade; but blackberries and thorns will come up in it: and I will give orders to the clouds not to send rain on it.

⁷For the vine-garden of the Lord of armies is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he was looking for upright judging, and there was blood; for righteousness, and there was a cry for help.

⁸Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!

⁹The Lord of armies has said to me secretly, Truly, numbers of great and fair houses will be waste, with no one living in them.

¹⁰For ten fields of vines will only give one measure of wine, and a great amount of seed will only give a small measure of grain.

¹¹Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine!

¹²And corded instruments and wind-instruments and wine are in their feasts: but they give no thought to the work of the Lord, and they are not interested in what his hands are doing.

¹³For this cause my people are taken away as prisoners into strange countries for need of knowledge: and their rulers are wasted for need of food, and their loud-voiced feasters are dry for need of water.

¹⁴For this cause the underworld has made wide its throat, opening its mouth without limit: and her glory, and the noise of her masses, and her loud-voiced feasters, will go down into it.

¹⁵And the poor man's head is bent, and the great man goes down on his face, and the eyes of pride are put to shame:

¹⁶But the Lord of armies is lifted up as judge, and the Holy God is seen to be holy in righteousness.

¹⁷Then the lambs will get food as in their grass-lands, and the fat cattle will be feasting in the waste places.

¹⁸Cursed are those who make use of ox-cords for pulling the evil thing, and the bands of a young ox for their sin!

¹⁹Who say, Let him do his work quickly, let him make it sudden, so that we may see it: let the design of the Holy One of Israel come near, so that it may be clear to us.

²⁰Cursed are those who give the name of good to evil, and of evil to what is good: who make light dark, and dark light: who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter!

²¹Cursed are those who seem wise to themselves, and who take pride in their knowledge!

²²Cursed are those who are strong to take wine, and great in making mixed drinks!

²³Who for a reward give support to the cause of the sinner, and who take away the righteousness of the upright from him.

²⁴For this cause, as the waste of the grain is burned up by tongues of fire, and as the dry grass goes down before the flame, so their root will be like the dry stems of grain, and their flower will go up in dust: because they have gone against the law of the Lord of armies, and have given no honour to the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵For this reason the wrath of the Lord has been burning against his people, and his hand has been stretched out against them in punishment, and the hills were shaking, and their dead bodies were like waste in the open places of the town.

²⁶And he will let a flag be lifted up as a sign to a far-off nation, whistling to them from the ends of the earth: and they will come quickly and suddenly.

²⁷There is no weariness among them, and no man is feeble-footed: they come without resting or sleeping, and the cord of their shoes is not broken.

²⁸Their arrows are sharp, and every bow is bent: the feet of their horses are like rock, and their wheels are like a rushing storm.

²⁹The sound of their armies will be like the voice of a lion, and their war-cry like the noise of young lions: with loud cries they will come down on their food and will take it away safely, and there will be no one to take it out of their hands.

³⁰And his voice will be loud over him in that day like the sounding of the sea: and if a man's eyes are turned to the earth, it is all dark and full of trouble; and the light is made dark by thick clouds.

Isaiah 5

¹Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.

²He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in its midst, and also cut out a winepress therein. He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

³"Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.

⁴What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?

⁵Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall of it, and it will be trampled down.

⁶I will lay it a wasteland. It won't be pruned nor hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it."

⁷For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.

⁸Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!

⁹In my ears, the Lord of hosts says: "Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied.

¹⁰For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah."

¹¹Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!

¹²The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the Lord, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.

¹³Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.

¹⁴Therefore Sheol has enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it.

¹⁵So man is brought low, mankind is humbled, and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;

¹⁶but the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.

¹⁷Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.

¹⁸Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope;

¹⁹Who say, "Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!"

²⁰Woe to those 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!

²¹Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

²²Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;

²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!

²⁴Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵Therefore the Lord's anger burns against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out.

²⁶He will lift up a banner to the nations from far, and he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly.

²⁷None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

²⁸whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs will be like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.

²⁹Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver.

³⁰They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.