Isaiah 5
1
Let me sing, I pray you, for my beloved, A song of my beloved as to his
vineyard: My beloved hath a vineyard in a fruitful hill, 2 And he fenceth it, and casteth out its
stones, And planteth it [with] a choice vine, And buildeth a tower in its midst, And also a wine press hath
hewn out in it, And he waiteth for the yielding of
grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones! 3 And now, O
inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my
vineyard. 4 What--to do still to my vineyard, That I have not done in it!
Wherefore, I waited to the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth
bad ones! 5 And now, pray, let me cause you to know, That which I am doing to
my vineyard, To turn aside its hedge, And it hath been for consumption, To
break down its wall, And it hath been for a treading-place. 6 And I make it a
waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on
the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain. 7 Because the vineyard
of Jehovah of Hosts [Is] the house of Israel, And the man of Judah His pleasant
plant, And He waiteth for judgment, and lo,
oppression, For righteousness, and lo, a cry. 8 Woe [to] those joining house to
house, Field to field they bring near, till there is no place, And ye have been
settled by yourselves In the midst of the land! 9 By the weapons of Jehovah of
Hosts Do not many houses a desolation become? Great and good without
inhabitant! 10 For ten acres of vineyard do yield one bath, And an homer of
seed yieldeth an ephah. 11
Woe [to] those rising early in the morning, Strong drink they pursue! Tarrying
in twilight, wine inflameth them! 12 And harp, and
psaltery, tabret, and pipe, And wine, have been their
banquets, And the work of Jehovah they behold not, Yea, the work of His hands
they have not seen. 13 Therefore my people removed without knowledge, And its honourable ones are famished, And its multitude dried up of
thirst. 14 Therefore hath Sheol enlarged herself, And hath opened her mouth
without limit. And gone down hath its honour, and its
multitude, And its noise, and its exulting one--into her. 15 And bowed down is
the low, and humbled the high, And the eyes of the haughty become low, 16 And
Jehovah of Hosts is high in judgment, And the Holy God sanctified in
righteousness, 17 And fed have lambs according to their leading, And waste
places of the fat ones Do sojourners consume. 18 Woe [to] those drawing out
iniquity with cords of vanity, And as [with] thick ropes of the cart--sin. 19
Who are saying, `Let Him hurry, Let Him hasten His work, that we may see, And
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel Draw near and come, and we know.' 20
Woe [to] those saying to evil `good,' And to good `evil,' Putting darkness for
light, and light for darkness, Putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes, And--before their own
faces--intelligent! 22 Woe [to] the mighty to drink wine, And men of strength
to mingle strong drink. 23 Declaring righteous the wicked for a bribe, And the
righteousness of the righteous They turn aside from him. 24 Therefore, as a
tongue of fire devoureth stubble, And flaming hay falleth, Their root is as muck, And their flower as dust goeth up. Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of
Hosts, And the saying of the Holy One of Israel despised. 25 Therefore hath the
anger of Jehovah burned among His people, And He stretcheth
out His hand against it, And smiteth it, and the
mountains tremble, And their carcase is as filth in
the midst of the out-places. With all this His anger did not turn back, And
still His hand is stretched out! 26 And He lifted up an ensign to nations afar
off, And hissed to it from the end of the earth, And lo, with haste, swift it
cometh. 27 There is none weary, nor stumbling in it, It doth not slumber, nor
sleep, Nor opened hath been the girdle of its loins, Nor drawn away the latchet
of its sandals. 28 Whose arrows [are] sharp, and all its bows bent, Hoofs of
its horses as flint have been reckoned, And its wheels as a hurricane! 29 Its
roaring [is] like a lioness, It roareth like young
lions, And it howleth, and seizeth
prey, And carrieth away safely, and there is none
delivering. 30 And it howleth against it in that day
as the howling of a sea, And it hath looked attentively to the land, And lo,
darkness--distress, And light hath been darkened by its abundance!