Isaiah

The Song of the Vineyard

1I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyardon a very fertile hill.

2He dug it up and cleared the stonesand planted the finest vines.He built a watchtower in the middleand dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes,but the fruit it produced was sour!

3“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalemand men of Judah,I exhort you to judgebetween Me and My vineyard.

4What more could have been done for My vineyardthan I have done for it?Why, when I expected sweet grapes,did it bring forth sour fruit?

5Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge,and it will be consumed;I will tear down its wall,and it will be trampled.

6I will make it a wasteland,neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up.I will command the cloudsthat rain shall not fall on it.”

7For the vineyard of the LORD of Hostsis the house of Israel,and the men of Judahare the plant of His delight.He looked for justice,but saw bloodshed;for righteousness,but heard a cry of distress.

Woes to the Wicked

8Woe to you who add house to houseand join field to fielduntil no place is leftand you live alone in the land.

9I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate,great mansions left unoccupied.

10For ten acres of vineyardwill yield but a bath of wine,and a homer of seedonly an ephah of grain.”

11Woe to those who rise early in the morningin pursuit of strong drink,who linger into the evening,to be inflamed by wine.

12At their feasts are the lyre and harp,tambourines and flutes and wine.They disregard the actions of the LORDand fail to see the work of His hands.

13Therefore My people will go into exilefor their lack of understanding;their dignitaries are starvingand their masses are parched with thirst.

14Therefore Sheol enlarges its throatand opens wide its enormous jaws,and down go Zion’s nobles and masses,her revelers and carousers!

15So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled;the arrogant will lower their eyes.

16But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice,and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.

17Lambs will graze as in their own pastures,and strangerswill feed in the ruins of the wealthy.

18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceitand pull sin along with cart ropes,

19to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His workso that we may see it!Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel comeso that we may know it!”

20Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil,who turn darkness to lightand light to darkness,who replace bitter with sweetand sweet with bitter.

21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyesand clever in their own sight.

22Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wineand champions in mixing strong drink,

23who acquit the guilty for a bribeand deprive the innocent of justice.

24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw,and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,so their roots will decayand their blossoms will blow away like dust;for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hostsand despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people;His hand is raised against them to strike them down.The mountains quake,and the corpses lie like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;His hand is still upraised.

26He lifts a banner for the distant nationsand whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!

27None of them grows weary or stumbles;no one slumbers or sleeps.No belt is looseand no sandal strap is broken.

28Their arrows are sharpened,and all their bows are strung.The hooves of their horses are like flint;their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

29Their roaring is like that of a lion;they roar like young lions.They growl and seize their prey;they carry it away, and no one can rescue it.

30In that day they will roar over it,like the roaring of the sea.If one looks over the land,he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.

1Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard.My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.

2He dug it up,gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in the middle of it, and also cut out a wine press in it.He looked for it to yield grapes,but it yielded wild grapes.

3“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,please judge between me and my vineyard.

4What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?

5Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down.

6I will lay it a wasteland.It won’t be pruned or hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.”

7For the vineyard of the LORD of Armies is the house of Israel,and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression, for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

8Woe to those who join house to house,who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!

9In my ears, the LORD of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate,even great and beautiful, unoccupied.

10For ten acresof vineyard shall yield one bath,and a homerof seed shall yield an ephah.”

11Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink,who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!

12The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts;but they don’t respect the work of the LORD, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.

13Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge.Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.

14Therefore Sheolhas enlarged its desire,and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it.

15So man is brought low,mankind is humbled, and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;

16but the LORD of Armies is exalted in justice,and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.

17Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.

18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,and wickedness as with cart rope,

19who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it;let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”

20Woe 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!

21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,and prudent in their own sight!

22Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine,and champions at mixing strong drink;

23who acquit the guilty for a bribe,but deny justice for the innocent!

24Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,and as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust,because they have rejected the law of the LORD of Armies,and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25Therefore the LORD’s anger burns against his people,and he has stretched out his hand against them and has struck them.The mountains tremble,and their dead bodies are as refuse in the middle of the streets.For all this, his anger is not turned away,but his hand is still stretched out.

26He will lift up a banner to the nations from far away,and he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly.

27No one shall be weary nor stumble among them;no one shall slumber nor sleep, neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the strap of their sandals be broken,

28whose arrows are sharp,and all their bows bent.Their horses’ hoofs will be like flint,and their wheels like a whirlwind.

29Their roaring will be like a lioness.They will roar like young lions.Yes, they shall roar,and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver.

30They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea.If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.