Isaiah 5

1Let me sing for my beloved
my beloved’s song about his vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside. 2He dug it, cleared its stones,
and planted choice vines.
He built a tower in its midst
and cut out a winepress.
He expected grapes,
but it produced foul fruit.

3“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard. 4What more could I have done for my vineyard
that I have not done?
Why, when I expected grapes,
did it produce foul fruit?

5Now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard:
remove its hedge, and it will be devoured;
break its wall, and it will be trampled. 6I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor hoed,
overgrown with thorns and briers.
I will command the clouds
to send no rain on it.”

7The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel;
the people of Judah are the planting he delighted in.
He expected justice—but look, bloodshed!
Righteousness—but listen, a cry!

8Woe to those who join house to house
and add field to field,
until no room remains
and you live alone in the land! 9The LORD of hosts has spoken in my hearing:
“Surely many houses will lie desolate,
large and beautiful, with no one living there. 10Ten yoke of vineyard will yield one bath,
and a homer of seed will yield an ephah.”

11Woe to those who rise early to chase strong drink
and linger late, inflamed by wine! 12Lyre and harp, tambourine and flute,
and wine fill their feasts.
But they do not regard the LORD’s work
or see what his hands have done.

13So my people go into exile for lack of knowledge.
Their honored people die of hunger;
their masses are parched with thirst. 14So Sheol widens its appetite
and opens its mouth without limit.
Down go Jerusalem’s splendor and crowds,
her uproar and revelers.

15Humanity bows down; people are brought low;
proud eyes are lowered. 16But the LORD of hosts is exalted through justice;
the holy God shows himself holy through righteousness. 17Lambs will graze as in their pasture,
and strangers will eat among the ruins of the well-fed.

18Woe to those who drag guilt with cords of falsehood
and sin as with cart ropes, 19who say, “Let him hurry!
Let him speed his work so we can see it!
Let the Holy One of Israel’s plan come near,
let it arrive so we may know!”

20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter!

21Woe to those wise in their own eyes
and discerning in their own sight! 22Woe to heroes at drinking wine,
valiant men at mixing strong drink, 23who acquit the wicked for a bribe
and take the righteous person’s rights away!

24As a tongue of fire eats stubble
and dry grass collapses in flame,
their root will rot
and their blossom rise like dust.
They have rejected the instruction of the LORD of hosts
and scorned the Holy One of Israel’s word.

25So the LORD’s anger burned against his people.
He stretched out his hand and struck them;
mountains shook,
and their corpses lay like refuse in the streets.
For all this, his anger has not turned away;
his hand is still stretched out.

26He will raise a signal for distant nations
and whistle for them from the earth’s end.
Look, they come swiftly, speedily! 27None grows tired or stumbles;
none dozes or sleeps.
No belt at the waist comes loose;
no sandal strap breaks. 28Their arrows are sharp,
all their bows drawn.
Their horses’ hooves seem like flint,
their wheels like a whirlwind.

29Their roar is like a lion’s;
they roar like young lions.
They growl, seize prey,
and carry it off with no one to rescue it. 30On that day they will growl over it
like the sea’s roar.
Look toward the land:
darkness and distress!
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.