Isa 5 | HCSB | STEP | I will sing about the one I love , a song about my loved one’s vineyard : The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill .

Isaiah 5

Song of the Vineyard

1 I will sing about the one I love,
a song about my loved one’s vineyard: ^a
The one I love had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,
and planted it with the finest vines. ^b
He built a tower in the middle of it
and even dug out a winepress there.
He expected ^c it to yield good grapes,
but it yielded worthless grapes. ^d

3 So now, residents of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
please judge between Me
and My vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for My vineyard
than I did? ^e
Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am about to do to My vineyard:
I will remove its hedge, ^f
and it will be consumed;
I will tear down its wall, ^g
and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland. ^h
It will not be pruned or weeded;
thorns and briers will grow up. ⁱ
I will also give orders to the clouds
that rain should not fall on it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of ^{▼▼Hosts/hosts: Military forces consisting of God's angels, sometimes including the sun, moon, and stars, and occasionally, Israel}Hosts
is the house of Israel, ^k
and the men ^{▼▼Lit man} of Judah,
the plant He delighted in.
He looked for justice
but saw injustice,
for righteousness,
but heard cries of wretchedness.

Judah’s Sins Denounced

8 Woe to those who add house to house ^m
and join field to field
until there is no more room
and you alone are left in the land.

9 I heard the Lord of Hosts say:

Indeed, many houses ⁿ will become desolate,
grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.
10 For a ten-acre ^{▼▼Lit ten-yoke} vineyard will yield
only six gallons, ^{▼▼Lit one bath}
and 10 bushels ^{▼▼Lit one homer} of seed will yield
only one bushel. ^{▼▼Lit [one] ephah}

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of beer, ^s
who linger into the evening,
inflamed by wine.
12 At their feasts they have lyre, harp,
tambourine, flute, and wine.
They do not perceive the Lord’s actions, ^t
and they do not see the work of His hands. ^u

13 Therefore My people will go into exile
because they lack knowledge; ^v
her ^{▼▼Lit its} dignitaries are starving,
and her ^{▼▼Lit its} masses are parched with thirst.
14 Therefore ^{▼▼Sheol: A Hebrew word for either the grave or the realm of the dead}Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws, ^z
and down go ^{▼▼Zion: Originally a term for the fortified section of Jerusalem and then, by extension, used for the temple and the city of Jerusalem both in the present time and in the future}Zion’s dignitaries, her masses,
her crowds, and those who carouse in her!
15 Humanity is brought low, man is humbled,
and haughty eyes are humbled. ^ab
16 But the Lord of Hosts is exalted by His justice, ^ac
and the holy God ^ad is distinguished by righteousness. ^ae
17 Lambs will graze
as if in ^{▼▼Syr reads graze in} their own pastures, ^ag
and strangers ^{▼▼LXX reads sheep} will eat
among the ruins of the rich.

18 Woe to those who drag wickedness
with cords of deceit ^ai
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19 to those who say:
“Let Him hurry up and do His work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan ^aj of the Holy One of Israel ^ak take place
so that we can know it!”
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil, ^al
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion
and clever in their own sight. ^{▼▼Lit clever before their face
,} ^an
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are fearless at mixing beer, ^ao
23 who acquit the ^{▼▼guilt/guilty: The liability to be punished for a fault, a sin, an act, or an omission unless there is forgiveness or atonement; the term normally concerns an objective fact, not a subjective feeling.}guilty for a bribe ^aq
and deprive the innocent of justice.

24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected ^ar
the instruction of the Lord of Hosts,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel. ^as
25 Therefore the Lord’s anger burns ^at against His people.
He raised His hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked, ^au
and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
In all this, His anger is not removed,
and His hand is still raised to strike. ^av

26 He raises a signal flag for the distant nations ^aw
and whistles ^ax for them from the ends of the earth.
Look – how quickly and swiftly they come!
27 None of them grows weary or stumbles; ^ay
no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose
and no sandal strap broken.
28 Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows strung.
Their horses’ hooves are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion’s; ^az
they roar like young lions; ^ba
they growl and seize their prey
and carry it off,
and no one can rescue it.
30 On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds. ^{▼▼Lit its clouds}