Isa 5 | NASB1995 | STEP | Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard . My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill .

Isaiah 5

Parable of the Vineyard

1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a ^avineyard on ^{▼▼ Lit a horn, the son of fatness}a fertile hill.
2 He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with ^{▼▼ Lit a bright red grape}the ^dchoicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a ^{▼▼ Or wine press}wine vat in it;
Then He ^fexpected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only ^{▼▼ Or wild grapes}worthless ones.

3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
^hJudge between Me and My vineyard.
4 ⁱ“What more was there to do for My vineyard ^{▼▼ Lit and I have not done}that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce ^{▼▼ Or wild grapes}worthless ones?
5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will ^lremove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will ^mbreak down its wall and it will become ⁿtrampled ground.
6 “I will ^olay it waste;
It will not be pruned or hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also charge the clouds to ^prain no rain on it.”

7 For the ^qvineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His delightful plant.
Thus He looked for justice, but behold, ^rbloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

Woes for the Wicked

8 Woe to those who ^sadd house to house and join field to field,
Until there is no more room,
So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!
9 In my ears the Lord of hosts has sworn, “Surely, ^tmany houses shall become ^udesolate,
Even great and fine ones, without occupants.
10 “For ^vten acres of vineyard will yield only one ^{▼▼ I.e. Approx 10 1/2 gal.}bath of wine,
And a ^xhomer of seed will yield but an ^{▼▼ I.e. Approx one bu}ephah of grain.”
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue ^zstrong drink,
Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!
12 Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and ^aaharp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine;
But they ^abdo not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord,
Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

13 Therefore My people go into exile for their ^aclack of knowledge;
And ^{▼▼ Lit their glory are men of famine}their ^aehonorable men are famished,
And their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore ^afSheol has enlarged its ^{▼▼ Or appetite}throat and opened its mouth without measure;
And ^{▼▼ Lit her}Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.
15 So the common man will be humbled and the man of importance abased,
^aiThe eyes of the proud also will be abased.
16 But the ^ajLord of hosts will be ^akexalted in judgment,
And the holy God will show Himself ^alholy in righteousness.
17 ^amThen the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
And strangers will eat in the waste places of the ^{▼▼ Lit the fat}wealthy.

18 Woe to those who drag ^aoiniquity with the cords of ^{▼▼ Or worthlessness}falsehood,
And sin as if with cart ropes;
19 ^aqWho say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it;
And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near
And come to pass, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to those who ^arcall evil good, and good evil;
Who ^{▼▼ Lit set
,} ^atsubstitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who ^{▼▼ Lit set}substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are ^avwise in their own eyes
And clever in their own sight!
22 ^awWoe to those who are heroes in drinking wine
And valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 ^axWho justify the wicked for a bribe,
And ^aytake away the ^{▼▼ Lit righteousness}rights of the ones who are in the right!

24 Therefore, ^baas a tongue of fire consumes stubble
And dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their ^bbroot will become ^bclike rot and their blossom ^{▼▼ Lit ascend}blow away as dust;
For they have ^berejected the law of the Lord of hosts
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 On this account the ^bfanger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.
And the ^bgmountains quaked, and their ^bhcorpses ^{▼▼ Lit were}lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
^bjFor all this His anger ^{▼▼ Lit has not turned away}is not spent,
But His ^blhand is still stretched out.

26 He will also lift up a ^bmstandard to the ^{▼▼ Lit nations; probably Assyria}distant nation,
And will ^bowhistle for it ^bpfrom the ends of the earth;
And behold, it will ^bqcome with speed swiftly.
27 ^brNo one in it is weary or stumbles,
None slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the ^bsbelt at its waist undone,
Nor its sandal strap broken.
28 ^{▼▼ Lit Which, its arrows
,} ^buIts arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;
The hoofs of its horses ^{▼▼ Lit are regarded as}seem like flint and its chariot ^bwwheels like a whirlwind.
29 Its ^bxroaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;
It growls as it ^byseizes the prey
And carries it off with ^bzno one to deliver it.
30 And it will ^cagrowl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one ^cblooks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.