Isa 1:5, Isa 5 | ESV | STEP | Why will you still be struck down ? Why will you continue to rebel ? The whole head is sick , and the whole heart faint .

1 Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had ^ca vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with ^dchoice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and ^ehe looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 ^fWhat more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
^gWhen I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove ^hits hedge,
and it shall be devoured; ^{▼▼Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5}
^jI will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and ^kbriers and thorns shall grow up;
^lI will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 ^mFor the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed; ^{▼▼The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike}
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry! ^{▼▼The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike}

Woe to the Wicked

8 Woe to those who ^pjoin house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to dwell alone
in the midst of the land.
9 The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
^q“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 ^rFor ten acres ^{▼▼Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day} of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
and a ^thomer of seed shall yield but an ephah.” ^{▼▼A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters}
11 Woe to those who ^vrise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
as wine inflames them!
12 ^wThey have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
^xbut they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.
13 Therefore my people go into exile
^yfor lack of knowledge; ^{▼▼Or without their knowledge}
their ^aahonored men go hungry, ^{▼▼Or die of hunger}
and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has ^acenlarged its appetite
and opened ^adits mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem ^{▼▼Hebrew her nobility} and her multitude will go down,
her revelers and he who ^afexults in her.
15 ^agMan is humbled, and each one is brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty ^{▼▼Hebrew high} are brought low.
16 ^aiBut the Lord of hosts is exalted ^{▼▼Hebrew high} in justice,
and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze ^akas in their pasture,
and ^alnomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with ^amcords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: ^an“Let him be quick,
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to ^aothose who call evil good
and good evil,
^apwho put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are ^aqwise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are ^arheroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who ^asacquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!
24 Therefore, ^atas the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so ^autheir root will be ^avas rottenness,
and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have ^awrejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
and have ^axdespised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore ^aythe anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
and ^azthe mountains quaked;
and their corpses were ^baas refuse
in the midst of the streets.
^bbFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
26 He will ^bcraise a signal for nations far away,
and ^bdwhistle for them ^befrom the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 ^bfNone is weary, none stumbles,
none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
not a sandal strap broken;
28 ^bgtheir arrows are sharp,
all their bows bent,
their horses’ hoofs seem like flint,
and their wheels ^bhlike the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
like young lions they roar;
they growl and ^biseize their prey;
they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day,
like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
behold, ^bjdarkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.