Isaiah, Chapter 5:

Verses from Isaiah 5 from the Book of Isaiah in the Bible.

the song of the vine

• 1. The Lord had a vineyard, the nation of Israel, planted on top of a fertile hill.
• 2. He prepared it with care, clearing stones and planting the best vines. He erected a watchtower and dug out a tank to squeeze the grapes. Everything was prepared for the vine to bear good grapes, but it produced only sour fruit.
• 3. Now, people of Jerusalem and men of Judah, listen and judge between me and my vineyard:
• 4. What else could I have done for her that I didn't? Why, when she expected good grapes, did she only produce sour grapes?
• 5. Before this, I declare to you what I will do with my vineyard: I will tear down the fence so that it will be turned into pasture; I will pull up the wall so that it will be trampled down.
• 6. I will make it a wasteland; shall not be pruned or weeded; thorns and weeds will grow in it. And I will order the clouds not to pour rain on her.

• 7. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the nation of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plantation that he loved. He expected justice, but saw bloodshed; he expected righteousness, but he heard cries of distress.

• 8. Woe to you, who pile house upon house, property upon property, until there is no more room for anyone, becoming absolute lords of the earth!
• 9. Many houses will be abandoned, mansions will be deserted.
• 10. A large vineyard will produce but a little wine, and a heap of seed will yield but a small harvest.
• 11. Woe to those who rise early to drink and warm themselves with wine until night!
• 12. They have harps, lyres, tambourines, flutes, and wine at their feasts, but they care not for the acts of the Lord, nor consider the work of their hands.
• 13. Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of knowledge; your nobles will starve, and the multitudes will be thirsty.
• 14. Therefore Sheol increases its appetite and opens up ravenously. The glory of the city, its inhabitants, its nobles and all who delight in it will descend into darkness.
• 15. Mankind will be humbled, and the eyes of the proud will be lowered.
• 16. But the Lord of hosts will be exalted by righteousness, and the holy God will be sanctified by righteousness.
• 17. Then sheep shall graze as in their own pasture; lambs will eat in the ruins of the rich.
• 18. Woe to those who pull evil with ropes of falsehood and sin like cart ropes!
• 19. They say: “May God hasten his work so that we can see it! May the plan of the Holy One of Israel be realized so that we may know it!”

• 20. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, bitterness into sweetness and sweetness into bitterness!

• 21. Woe to those who consider themselves wise in their own eyes and intelligent in their own opinion!

• 22. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and masters at mixing drinks!

• 23. Woe to those who acquit the guilty for bribery and deny justice to the innocent!

• 24. Therefore, as chaff is consumed by fire and stubble is devoured by flames, your roots will become rottenness and your blossoms will be taken away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

• 25. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them to smite them. The mountains shook and their bodies lay like rubbish in the streets. Even so, his anger is not appeased, his hand is still raised.

• 26. He raises a banner to summon a distant nation and whistles for a people from the ends of the earth. They come flying quickly!

• 27. None of them grows weary, nor stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps, no one loosens his belt or unfastens his sandal straps.

• 28. Your arrows are sharpened, all your bows are bent. Their horses' hooves are like a stone, and their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

• 29. They roar like lions, they roar like lion cubs, while they hunt and carry the prey, with no one to rescue it.

• 30. In that day they will roar over Judah like the roaring of the sea. And if anyone looks at the land of Israel, he will see only darkness and distress; daylight will be obscured by clouds.