IsaiahChapter 5

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¹I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard.
The one I love had a vineyard
on a very rich hill. ²He dug up the ground and cleared away the stones.
He planted the best vines.
He built a watchtower in the middle of it.
He also cut out a winepress.
Then he waited for it to grow good grapes.
But the fruit it grew was sour! ³"Now, you people living in Jerusalem
and you men of Judah,
I urge you to judge between me and my vineyard. ⁴What more could have been done for my vineyard
than what I have done for it?
I looked for sweet grapes.
So why did it grow sour fruit? ⁵Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard.
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be eaten up.
I will tear down its wall,
and it will be trampled. ⁶I will make it a wasteland.
No one will trim its vines or dig its ground.
Thorns and briers will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it." ⁷For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts
is the house of Israel.
The men of Judah are the plant he loved.
He looked for justice,
but he saw people being killed.
He looked for what is right,
but he heard cries for help. ⁸How terrible for you who buy house after house
and add field to field!
You do it until there is no room left,
and you live alone in the land. ⁹I heard the LORD of Hosts say,
"For sure, many houses will be empty.
Big, fine houses will have no one living in them. ¹⁰For ten acres of vineyard
will make only six gallons of wine.
Six bushels of seed
will grow only about half a bushel of grain."a ¹¹How terrible for those who get up early in the morning
to chase after strong drink!
They stay up late into the evening
until wine sets them on fire. ¹²At their feasts they have lyres and harps,
tambourines and flutes and wine.
But they pay no attention to what the LORD does.
They do not see the work of his hands. ¹³So my people will be taken away as captives
because they do not understand.
Their important men will starve.
Their crowds of people will be dry with thirst. ¹⁴So the grave opens its throat wide.
It opens its huge jaws.
Down go Zion's nobles and her crowds,
all her partyers and drunken people!b ¹⁵So people will be brought low.
Each person will be humbled.
The proud will look down in shame. ¹⁶But the LORD of Hosts will be lifted high by his justice.
The holy God will show he is holy
by doing what is righteous. ¹⁷Lambs will eat grass there
as if it were their own pasture.
Strangers will eat in the ruins of the rich. ¹⁸How terrible for those who pull sin along
with ropes made of lies!
They drag sin behind them
like a cart pulled with ropes. ¹⁹They say, "Let God hurry up!
Let him do his work quickly so we can see it!
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come about,
so we can know it!" ²⁰How terrible for those who call evil good
and good evil!
They make darkness into light
and light into darkness.
They make bitter into sweet
and sweet into bitter. ²¹How terrible for those who think they are wise,
who think they are so clever! ²²How terrible for those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and champions at mixing strong drinks! ²³They let guilty people go free for a bribe.
They take away justice from the innocent. ²⁴So, as fire burns up straw,
and as dry grass shrivels up in the flame,
so their roots will rot.
Their flowers will blow away like dust.
For they have rejected the teaching of the LORD of Hosts.
They have hated the word of the Holy One of Israel. ²⁵So the LORD's anger burns against his people.
He has raised his hand against them to strike them down.
The mountains shake.
Dead bodies lie like garbage in the streets.
Even after all this, his anger has not turned away.
His hand is still raised to strike. ²⁶He raises a flag as a signal to nations far away.
He whistles for people at the ends of the earth.
Look! They come so fast! ²⁷None of them gets tired or trips.
No one gets sleepy or sleeps.
No belt is loose.
No sandal strap is broken. ²⁸Their arrows are sharp.
All their bows are ready to shoot.
Their horses' hooves are hard as flint.
Their chariot wheels spin like a whirlwind. ²⁹Their roar is like a lion's roar.
They roar like young lions.
They growl and grab their prey.
They carry it off,
and no one can save it. ³⁰On that day they will roar over it
like the roaring of the sea.
If anyone looks at the land,
he will see darkness and trouble.
Even the light will be hidden by clouds.