Isaiah 5
Isaiah sings the parable of the LORD's vineyard, which He planted and tended but which yielded only wild grapes. The LORD pronounces six woes -- against those who join house to house, who rise early to follow strong drink, who call evil good and good evil, who are wise in their own eyes, and who justify the wicked for a bribe.
| v | King James Version | Modern English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: | Let me sing for my beloved a love song about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. |
| 2 | And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. | He dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle of it and cut out a wine vat. He expected it to yield good grapes — but it yielded wild grapes. |
| 3 | And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. | "Now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. |
| 4 | What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? | What more could have been done for my vineyard that I have not done? When I expected it to yield good grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? |
| 5 | And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: | Now let me tell You what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured. I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. |
| 6 | And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. | I will make it a wasteland — unpruned and unweeded — and briers and thorns shall come up. I will also command the clouds to rain no rain on it." |
| 7 | For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. | For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant planting. He looked for justice, but found bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress. |
| 8 | Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! | Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no room left, and You alone live in the midst of the land! |
| 9 | In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. | The LORD of hosts said in my hearing, "Many houses shall be desolate — great and fine ones, with no one living in them." |
| 10 | Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. | Ten acres of vineyard shall produce only one bath of wine, and a homer of seed shall yield only an ephah of grain. |
| 11 | Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! | Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after strong drink, who stay up late into the night until wine inflames them! |
| 12 | And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. | They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts — but they do not regard the work of the LORD, nor consider what His hands have done. |
| 13 | Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. | Therefore My people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honored men are starving and their crowd is parched with thirst. |
| 14 | Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. | Therefore hell has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure. Their glory, their crowd, their pomp, and all who rejoice among them descend into it. |
| 15 | And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: | The lowly shall be brought down, the mighty humbled, and the eyes of the proud brought low. |
| 16 | But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. | But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One shows Himself holy in righteousness. |
| 17 | Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. | Then lambs shall graze as in their pasture, and strangers shall eat among the ruins of the rich. |
| 18 | Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: | Woe to those who drag iniquity along with cords of deceit, and sin as if pulling it with a cart rope, |
| 19 | That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! | who say, "Let Him hurry and hasten His work so we can see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come so we can know it!" |
| 20 | Woe unto 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! | Woe to those 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! |
| 21 | Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! | Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! |
| 22 | Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: | Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, champions at mixing strong drink, |
| 23 | Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! | who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deny justice to the innocent! |
| 24 | Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. | Therefore, as a flame devours stubble and dry grass collapses into the fire, their root shall rot and their blossom blow away as dust — because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. |
| 25 | Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. | Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against His people. He stretched out His hand against them and struck them. The mountains trembled, and their corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this His anger has not turned away; His hand is still stretched out. |
| 26 | And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: | He raises an ensign for distant nations and whistles for them from the ends of the earth. They come quickly, with great speed. |
| 27 | None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: | None among them is weary or stumbles. None slumbers or sleeps. Their belts are not loosened; their sandal straps are not broken. |
| 28 | Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: | Their arrows are sharp and their bows strung. Their horses' hooves are like flint, and their chariot wheels like a whirlwind. |
| 29 | Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. | Their roaring is like a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl, seize the prey, and carry it off, with no one to rescue it. |
| 30 | And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof. | In that day they shall roar over them like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land — darkness and distress. The light is darkened by the clouds. |