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A Song about a Vineyard

The Lord said:

(A) I will sing a song
    about my friend's vineyard
that was on the side
    of a fertile hill.
My friend dug the ground,
removed the stones,
    and planted the best vines.
He built a watchtower
and dug a pit in rocky ground
    for pressing the grapes.
He hoped they would be sweet,
but bitter grapes
    were all it produced.

Listen, people of Jerusalem
    and of Judah!
You be the judge of me
    and my vineyard.
What more could I have done
    for my vineyard?
I hoped for sweet grapes,
but bitter grapes
    were all that grew.

Now I will let you know
    what I am going to do.
I will cut down the hedge
    and tear down the wall.
My vineyard will be trampled
    and left in ruins.
It will turn into a desert,
    neither pruned nor hoed;
it will be covered
    with thorns and briars.
I will command the clouds
    not to send rain.

I am the Lord All-Powerful!
    Israel is the vineyard,
and Judah is the garden
    I tended with care.
I had hoped for honesty
    and for justice,
but dishonesty
and cries for mercy
    were all I found.

Isaiah Condemns Social Injustice

You are in for trouble! You take over house after house and field after field, until there is no room left for anyone else in all the land. But the Lord All-Powerful has made this promise to me:

Those large and beautiful homes will be left empty, with no one to take care of them. 10 Four hectares of grapevines will produce only 27 liters of juice, and 180 liters of seed will produce merely 18 liters of grain.

11 (B) You are in for trouble! You get up early to start drinking, and you keep it up late into the night. 12 At your drinking parties you have the music of stringed instruments, tambourines, and flutes. But you never even think about all the Lord has done, 13 and so his people know nothing about him. That's why many of you will be dragged off to foreign lands. Your leaders will starve to death, and everyone else will suffer from thirst.

14 The world of the dead has opened its mouth wide and is eagerly waiting for the leaders of Jerusalem and for its noisy crowds, especially for those who take pride in that city. 15 Its citizens have been put down, and its proud people have been brought to shame. 16 But the holy Lord God All-Powerful is praised, because he has shown who he is by bringing justice. 17 His people will be like sheep grazing in their own pasture, and they will take off what was left by others.[a]

18 You are in for trouble! The lies you tell are like ropes by which you drag along sin and evil. 19 And you say, “Let the holy God of Israel hurry up and do what he has promised, so we can see it for ourselves.” 20 You are headed for trouble! You say wrong is right, darkness is light, and bitter is sweet.

21 You think you are clever and smart. 22 And you are great at drinking and mixing drinks. But you are in for trouble. 23 You accept bribes to let the guilty go free, and you cheat the innocent out of a fair trial.

24 You will go up in flames like straw and hay! You have rejected the teaching of the holy Lord God All-Powerful of Israel. Now your roots will rot, and your blossoms will turn to dust.

25 You are the Lord's people, but you made him terribly angry, and he struck you with his mighty arm. Mountains shook, and dead bodies covered the streets like garbage. The Lord is still angry, and he is ready to strike you again.[b]

Foreign Nations Will Attack

26 The Lord has signaled for the foreign nations to come and attack you. He has already whistled, and they are coming as fast as they can. 27 None of them are tired. They don't sleep or get drowsy, and they run without stumbling. Their belts don't come loose; their sandal straps don't break. 28 Their arrows are sharp, and their bows are ready. The hoofs of their horses are hard as flint; the wheels of their war chariots turn as fast as a whirlwind.

29 They roar and growl like fierce young lions as they grab their victims and drag them off where no one can rescue them. 30 On the day they attack, they will roar like the ocean. And across the land you will see nothing but darkness and trouble, because the light of day will be covered by thick clouds.

Footnotes

  1. 5.17 and they … others: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 5.25 is ready … again: Or “hasn't given up on you yet.”

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 rain(N) on it.”

The vineyard(O) of the Lord Almighty
    is the nation 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(S) to you who add house to house
    and join field to field(T)
till no space is left
    and you live alone in the land.

The Lord Almighty(U) has declared in my hearing:(V)

“Surely the great houses will become desolate,(W)
    the fine mansions left without occupants.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath[a] of wine;
    a homer[b] of seed will yield only an ephah[c] of grain.”(X)

11 Woe(Y) 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.(Z)
12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
    pipes(AA) and timbrels(AB) and wine,
but they have no regard(AC) for the deeds of the Lord,
    no respect for the work of his hands.(AD)
13 Therefore my people will go into exile(AE)
    for lack of understanding;(AF)
those of high rank(AG) will die of hunger
    and the common people will be parched with thirst.(AH)
14 Therefore Death(AI) expands its jaws,
    opening wide its mouth;(AJ)
into it will descend their nobles and masses
    with all their brawlers and revelers.(AK)
15 So people will be brought low(AL)
    and everyone humbled,(AM)
    the eyes of the arrogant(AN) humbled.
16 But the Lord Almighty will be exalted(AO) by his justice,(AP)
    and the holy God will be proved holy(AQ) by his righteous acts.
17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;(AR)
    lambs will feed[d] among the ruins of the rich.

18 Woe(AS) to those who draw sin along with cords(AT) of deceit,
    and wickedness(AU) as with cart ropes,
19 to those who say, “Let God hurry;
    let him hasten(AV) his work
    so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One(AW) of Israel—
    let it approach, let it come into view,
    so we may know it.”(AX)

20 Woe(AY) to those who call evil good(AZ)
    and good evil,(BA)
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,(BB)
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter.(BC)

21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes(BD)
    and clever in their own sight.

22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine(BE)
    and champions at mixing drinks,(BF)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,(BG)
    but deny justice(BH) to the innocent.(BI)
24 Therefore, as tongues of fire(BJ) lick up straw(BK)
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay(BL)
    and their flowers blow away like dust;(BM)
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
    and spurned the word(BN) of the Holy One(BO) of Israel.
25 Therefore the Lord’s anger(BP) burns against his people;
    his hand is raised and he strikes them down.
The mountains shake,(BQ)
    and the dead bodies(BR) are like refuse(BS) in the streets.(BT)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,(BU)
    his hand is still upraised.(BV)

26 He lifts up a banner(BW) for the distant nations,
    he whistles(BX) for those at the ends of the earth.(BY)
Here they come,
    swiftly and speedily!
27 Not one of them grows tired(BZ) or stumbles,
    not one slumbers or sleeps;
not a belt(CA) is loosened at the waist,(CB)
    not a sandal strap is broken.(CC)
28 Their arrows are sharp,(CD)
    all their bows(CE) are strung;
their horses’ hooves(CF) seem like flint,
    their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.(CG)
29 Their roar is like that of the lion,(CH)
    they roar like young lions;
they growl as they seize(CI) their prey
    and carry it off with no one to rescue.(CJ)
30 In that day(CK) they will roar over it
    like the roaring of the sea.(CL)
And if one looks at the land,
    there is only darkness(CM) and distress;(CN)
    even the sun will be darkened(CO) by clouds.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:10 That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters
  2. Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms
  3. Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
  4. Isaiah 5:17 Septuagint; Hebrew / strangers will eat