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Isaiah 5
GOD’S WORD Translation
Isaiah 5
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Song about the Vineyard
5 Let me sing a lovesong to my beloved about his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2 He dug it up, removed its stones,
planted it with the choicest vines,
built a watchtower in it,
and made a winepress in it.
Then he waited for it to produce good grapes,
but it produced only sour, wild grapes.
3 Now then, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard!
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than what I have already done for it?
When I waited for it to produce good grapes,
why did it produce only sour, wild grapes?
5 Now then, let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will tear away its hedge so that it can be devoured
and tear down its wall so that it can be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland.
It will never be pruned or hoed.
Thorns and weeds will grow in it,
and I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
7 The vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah are the garden of his delight.
He hoped for justice but saw only slaughter,
for righteousness but heard only cries of distress.
Six Sins Condemned
8 How horrible it will be for you
who acquire house after house and buy field after field
until there’s nothing left
and you have to live by yourself in the land.
9 With my own ears I heard the Lord of Armies say,
“Many houses will become empty.
Large, beautiful houses will be without people to live in them.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only six gallons of wine,
and two quarts of seed will produce only four quarts of grain.”
11 How horrible it will be for those
who get up early to look for a drink,
who sit up late until they are drunk from wine.
12 At their feasts there are lyres and harps,
tambourines and flutes, and wine.
Yet, they don’t pay attention to what the Lord is doing
or see what his hands have done.
13 “My people will go into exile
because they don’t understand what I’m doing.
Honored men will starve,
and common people will be parched with thirst.”
14 That is why the grave’s appetite increases.
It opens its mouth very wide
so that honored people and common people will go down into it.
Those who are noisy and joyous will go down into it.
15 People will be brought down. Everyone will be humbled.
And the eyes of arrogant people will be humbled.
16 The Lord of Armies will be honored when he judges.
The holy God will show himself to be holy when he does what is right.
17 Then lambs will graze as if they were in their own pasture,
and foreigners will eat among the ruins of the rich.
18 How horrible it will be for those
who string people along with lies and empty promises,
whose lives are sinful.
19 They say,
“Let God hurry and quickly do his work
so that we may see what he has in mind.
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel happen quickly
so that we may understand what he is doing.”
20 How horrible it will be for those
who call evil good and good evil,
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn what is bitter into something sweet
and what is sweet into something bitter.
21 How horrible it will be for those
who think they are wise
and consider themselves to be clever.
22 How horrible it will be for those
who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are champions at mixing drinks,
23 who declare the guilty innocent for a bribe,
who take away the rights of righteous people.
The Lord Will Use Another Nation to Punish His People
24 As flames burn up straw
and dry grass shrivels in flames,
so their roots will rot,
and their blossoms will blow away like dust.
They have rejected the teachings of the Lord of Armies
and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 That’s why the anger of the Lord burns hot against his people,
and he is ready to use his power to strike them down.
The hills tremble,
and dead bodies lie like garbage in the streets.
Even after all this, his anger has not disappeared,
and he is still ready to use his power.
26 The Lord raises up a flag for the nations far away.
With a whistle he signals those at the ends of the earth.
Look, they are coming very quickly!
27 None of them grow tired or stumble.
None of them slumber or sleep.
The belts on their waists aren’t loose
or their sandal straps broken.
28 Their arrows are sharpened; all their bows are ready to shoot.
Their horses’ hoofs are as hard as flint.
Their chariot wheels are as quick as the wind.
29 They roar like a lioness.
They growl like a young lion.
They growl as they snatch their prey
and carry it off to where no one can rescue it.
30 On that day they will roar over their prey
as the sea roars.
If they look at the land,
they will see only darkness and distress.
Even the light will be darkened by thick clouds.
Isaiah 5
New International Version
Isaiah 5
New International Version
The Song of the Vineyard
5 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.(B)
He built a watchtower(C) in it
and cut out a winepress(D) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.(E)
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.(F)
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?(G)
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?(H)
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;(I)
I will break down its wall,(J)
and it will be trampled.(K)
6 I will make it a wasteland,(L)
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns(M) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain(N) on it.”
7 The vineyard(O) of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice,(P) but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness,(Q) but heard cries of distress.(R)
Woes and Judgments
8 Woe(S) to you who add house to house
and join field to field(T)
till no space is left
and you live alone in the land.
9 The Lord Almighty(U) has declared in my hearing:(V)
“Surely the great houses will become desolate,(W)
the fine mansions left without occupants.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath[a] of wine;
a homer[b] of seed will yield only an ephah[c] of grain.”(X)
11 Woe(Y) to those who rise early in the morning
to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
till they are inflamed with wine.(Z)
12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
pipes(AA) and timbrels(AB) and wine,
but they have no regard(AC) for the deeds of the Lord,
no respect for the work of his hands.(AD)
13 Therefore my people will go into exile(AE)
for lack of understanding;(AF)
those of high rank(AG) will die of hunger
and the common people will be parched with thirst.(AH)
14 Therefore Death(AI) expands its jaws,
opening wide its mouth;(AJ)
into it will descend their nobles and masses
with all their brawlers and revelers.(AK)
15 So people will be brought low(AL)
and everyone humbled,(AM)
the eyes of the arrogant(AN) humbled.
16 But the Lord Almighty will be exalted(AO) by his justice,(AP)
and the holy God will be proved holy(AQ) by his righteous acts.
17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;(AR)
lambs will feed[d] among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe(AS) to those who draw sin along with cords(AT) of deceit,
and wickedness(AU) as with cart ropes,
19 to those who say, “Let God hurry;
let him hasten(AV) his work
so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One(AW) of Israel—
let it approach, let it come into view,
so we may know it.”(AX)
20 Woe(AY) to those who call evil good(AZ)
and good evil,(BA)
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,(BB)
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.(BC)
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes(BD)
and clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine(BE)
and champions at mixing drinks,(BF)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,(BG)
but deny justice(BH) to the innocent.(BI)
24 Therefore, as tongues of fire(BJ) lick up straw(BK)
and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay(BL)
and their flowers blow away like dust;(BM)
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
and spurned the word(BN) of the Holy One(BO) of Israel.
25 Therefore the Lord’s anger(BP) burns against his people;
his hand is raised and he strikes them down.
The mountains shake,(BQ)
and the dead bodies(BR) are like refuse(BS) in the streets.(BT)
26 He lifts up a banner(BW) for the distant nations,
he whistles(BX) for those at the ends of the earth.(BY)
Here they come,
swiftly and speedily!
27 Not one of them grows tired(BZ) or stumbles,
not one slumbers or sleeps;
not a belt(CA) is loosened at the waist,(CB)
not a sandal strap is broken.(CC)
28 Their arrows are sharp,(CD)
all their bows(CE) are strung;
their horses’ hooves(CF) seem like flint,
their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.(CG)
29 Their roar is like that of the lion,(CH)
they roar like young lions;
they growl as they seize(CI) their prey
and carry it off with no one to rescue.(CJ)
30 In that day(CK) they will roar over it
like the roaring of the sea.(CL)
And if one looks at the land,
there is only darkness(CM) and distress;(CN)
even the sun will be darkened(CO) by clouds.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 5:10 That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters
- Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms
- Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
- Isaiah 5:17 Septuagint; Hebrew / strangers will eat
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.