Isaiah 5

1 Let me sing, I pray you, for a well-beloved of mine, The song of my beloved concerning his vineyard: —A vineyard, had my well-beloved on a very fruitful hill;

Let me sing now a song respecting my friend, A song respecting my friend touching his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard On a very fruitful hill;

2 And he thoroughly digged it, And gathered out the stones thereof, And planted it with a precious vine, And built a tower in the midst thereof, Moreover also a wine-press, hewed he therein, —Then waited he that it should bring forth grapes. And it brought forth wild grapes:

He digged it, and cleared it of stones, And planted it with the choicest vine, And built a tower in the midst of it, And hewed out a wine-press therein; Then he looked that it should bring forth its grapes, But it brought forth sour grapes.

3 Now, therefore, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, And men of Judah, —Judge, I pray you, betwixt me, and my vineyard: —

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, Judge ye between me and my vineyard!

4 What could have been done further to my vineyard, That I had not done in it? Why then—When I had waited that it should bring forth grapes, Brought it forth, wild grapes?

What could have been done for my vineyard That I have not done for it? Why, then, when I looked that it should bring forth its grapes, Brought it forth sour grapes?

5 Now, therefore, I pray you, let me tell, you, what I am about to do to my vineyard, —To take away the fence thereof And it shall be eaten up, To destroy the wall thereof And it shall be trodden down;

But come now, and I will tell you What I mean to do with my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trodden down!

6 And I will make it a waste; —It shall be neither pruned nor hoed, But there shall come up briars and thorns, —And upon the clouds, will I lay a charge, That they rain thereon no rain.

And I will make it a waste; It shall not be pruned, nor digged, But shall grow up into thorns and briers; I will also command the clouds That they shed no rain upon it.

7 Surely the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts, is the house of Israel, And, the men of Judah, are the plantation in which he dearly delighted, —And he waited, For equity but lo! murderous iniquity, For the rule of right but lo the cry of the wronged.

The vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah the plant of his delight. He looked for justice, and behold, bloodshed! For righteousness, and behold, outcry!

8 Alas for them who join house to house, Field to field, bring they near, —Until there is no room, But ye are left to dwell alone in the midst of the land.

Woe to them that join house to house, That add field to field, Till there is no place left, And they dwell alone in the land.

9 In mine ears, [said] Yahweh of hosts, —Verily, houses in abundance, shall become, a desolation, Large and fair, without inhabitant;

To mine ear hath Jehovah of hosts revealed it: Surely many houses shall become a desolation, The great and the fair ones, without an inhabitant.

10 For, ten yokes of vineyard, shall yield one bath, —And the seed of a homer, shall yield an ephah,

Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield a single bath of wine, And a homer of seed shall produce but an ephah.

11 Alas, for them who rise early in the morning that strong drink, they may pursue, —Who follow on in the evening cool [until] with wine, they are heated;

Woe to them that rise early in the morning to follow strong drink, —Who sit late in the night that wine may inflame them!

12 And it cometh to pass—that lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine are in their banquets, —But, the doing of Yahweh, they do not discern, And the work of his hands, have they not seen.

And the lyre and the harp, the tabret and the pipe, and wine, are at their feasts, But they regard not the work of Jehovah, Nor attend to the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore, are my people taken away captive before they know it, —And their honourable men are famished with hunger, And, their multitude, do gape for thirst.

Therefore shall my people be led captive, when they think not of it; Their honorable men shall be famished with hunger, And their rich men parched with thirst.

14 Therefore, hath hades enlarged her desire, And opened her mouth to its widest, —And their glory, and their multitude and their pomp. and he that is uproarious shall descend thereinto. (Sheol h7585)

Therefore doth the under-world enlarge its greedy throat, And stretch open its mouth without measure, And down go her nobility and her wealth, Her busy throng, and all that was joyful within her. (Sheol h7585)

15 And the mean man hath been bowed down And the mighty man hath been humbled, —Yea the looks of the haughty shall be humbled.

The mean man shall be bowed down, And the great man shall be brought low, And the eyes of the haughty shall be humbled;

16 But Yahweh of hosts, hath been exalted, in justice, —And the GOD that is holy hath been hallowed in righteousness;

Jehovah of hosts shall be exalted through judgment; Yea, God, the Holy One, shall be sanctified through righteousness.

17 Then shall the young rams feed where they please, —And, the wastes of the wealthy, shall strangers consume.

Then shall the lambs feed, as in their own pasture, And the deserted fields of the rich shall strangers consume.

18 Alas! for them Who draw on themselves punishment with cords of falsehood, —And as with waggon-bands, penalty:

Woe to them that draw calamity with cords of wickedness, And punishment as with wagon-traces, —

19 Who say—Let his work quicken—let it hasten, That we may see, —And let the purpose of Israel’s Holy One, draw near and come. That we may know!

Who say, Let him make speed, let him hasten his work that we may see it! Let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and be fulfilled, that we may know it!

20 Alas! for them 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.

Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil, That put darkness for light, and light for darkness, That put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21 Alas for them Who are wise in their own eyes, —And in their own sight, are prudent.

Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own conceit!

22 Alas for them Who are heroes to drink wine, —And men of valour to mingle strong drink,

Woe to them that are valiant to drink wine, And men of might to mingle strong drink!

23 Who justify the lawless, for a bribe, —Whereas the righteousness of the righteous, they take from him.

That clear the guilty for a reward, And take away from the righteous his right!

24 Therefore, As a tongue of fire, eateth up straw, And a flame reduceth, dry grass, to powder, Their root, like rottenness, shall become, And their blossom, like dust shall ascend, —Because they refused the law of Yahweh of hosts, And the utterance of the Holy One of Israel, they despised.

Therefore, as fire devours stubble, And as the withered grass sinks into the flame, So their root shall become rottenness, And their blossom shall fly up like dust. For they have despised the law of Jehovah of hosts, And contemned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 For this cause, did the anger of Yahweh kindle upon his own people, And he stretched out his hand against them and smote them—So that the mountains, trembled, And, their dead bodies, served, for fuel in the midst of the streets. For all this, hath his anger, not turned back, But still, is his hand outstretched,

Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people; He stretcheth forth his hand against them, and smiteth them, so that the mountains tremble, And their carcasses are as dung in the midst of the streets; For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still.

26 Therefore will he lift up an ensign to the nations afar off, And signal for him from the end of the earth, —And lo! with hot haste, will he come:

He lifteth up a banner for the nations afar off, He whistleth for them from the ends of the earth, And behold, they haste, and come swiftly.

27 None shall be weary, and none shall stumble in his midst, He shall neither slumber nor sleep, —Nor shall be loosened, the girdle of his loins, Nor snapped, the thong of his sandals:

None among them is weary, and none stumbleth; None slumbereth nor sleepeth; The girdle of their loins is not loosed, Nor the latchet of their shoes broken.

28 Whose arrows, are sharpened, and all his bows, bent, —The hoofs of his horses, like flint, are accounted, And, his wheels, [are] like a storm-wind:

Their arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; The hoofs of their horses are like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind.

29 A roar, hath he, like a lioness, —He will roar like wild lions—And will growl, and lay hold on prey, and carry into safety, and there be none to deliver.

Their roaring is like the roaring of the lion; They roar like young lions; They roar, and seize the prey; They bear it away, and none can rescue it.

30 Yea he will growl at him in that day, like the growling of the sea, —Though he look hard for the land, lo! the darkness of distress, Yea the light, hath grown dark in its clouds!

Yea, in that day shall they roar against them like the roaring of the sea; And if one look to the land, behold darkness and sorrow, And the light is darkened by its clouds.