Isaiah 5 – NIV & NIRV

New International Version

Isaiah 5:1-30

The Song of the Vineyard

1I will sing for the one I love

a song about his vineyard:

My loved one had a vineyard

on a fertile hillside.

2He dug it up and cleared it of stones

and planted it with the choicest vines.

He built a watchtower in it

and cut out a winepress as well.

Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,

but it yielded only bad fruit.

3“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.

4What more could have been done for my vineyard

than I have done for it?

When I looked for good grapes,

why did it yield only bad?

5Now 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 will break down its wall,

and it will be trampled.

6I will make it a wasteland,

neither pruned nor cultivated,

and briers and thorns will grow there.

I will command the clouds

not to rain on it.”

7The vineyard 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, but saw bloodshed;

for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

Woes and Judgments

8Woe to you who add house to house

and join field to field

till no space is left

and you live alone in the land.

9The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing:

“Surely the great houses will become desolate,

the fine mansions left without occupants.

10A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath5:10 That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters of wine;

a homer5:10 That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms of seed will yield only an ephah5:10 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms of grain.”

11Woe 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.

12They have harps and lyres at their banquets,

pipes and timbrels and wine,

but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord,

no respect for the work of his hands.

13Therefore my people will go into exile

for lack of understanding;

those of high rank will die of hunger

and the common people will be parched with thirst.

14Therefore Death expands its jaws,

opening wide its mouth;

into it will descend their nobles and masses

with all their brawlers and revelers.

15So people will be brought low

and everyone humbled,

the eyes of the arrogant humbled.

16But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice,

and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.

17Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;

lambs will feed5:17 Septuagint; Hebrew / strangers will eat among the ruins of the rich.

18Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,

and wickedness as with cart ropes,

19to those who say, “Let God hurry;

let him hasten his work

so we may see it.

The plan of the Holy One of Israel—

let it approach, let it come into view,

so 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 clever in their own sight.

22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine

and champions at mixing drinks,

23who acquit the guilty for a bribe,

but deny justice to the innocent.

24Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw

and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,

so their roots will decay

and their flowers blow away like dust;

for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty

and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people;

his hand is raised and he strikes them down.

The mountains shake,

and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,

his hand is still upraised.

26He lifts up a banner for the distant nations,

he whistles for those at the ends of the earth.

Here they come,

swiftly and speedily!

27Not one of them grows tired or stumbles,

not one slumbers or sleeps;

not a belt is loosened at the waist,

not a sandal strap is broken.

28Their arrows are sharp,

all their bows are strung;

their horses’ hooves seem like flint,

their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.

29Their roar is like that of the lion,

they roar like young lions;

they growl as they seize their prey

and carry it off with no one to rescue.

30In that day they will roar over it

like the roaring of the sea.

And if one looks at the land,

there is only darkness and distress;

even the sun will be darkened by clouds.

New International Reader’s Version

Isaiah 5:1-30

The Song of the Vineyard

1I will sing a song for the Lord.

He is the one I love.

It’s a song about his vineyard Israel.

The one I love had a vineyard.

It was on a hillside that had rich soil.

2He dug up the soil and removed its stones.

He planted the very best vines in it.

He built a lookout tower there.

He also cut out a winepress for it.

Then he kept looking for a crop of good grapes.

But the vineyard produced only bad fruit.

3So the Lord said, “People of Jerusalem and Judah,

you be the judge between me and my vineyard.

4What more could I have done for my vineyard?

I did everything I could.

I kept looking for a crop of good grapes.

So why did it produce only bad ones?

5Now I will tell you

what I am going to do to my vineyard.

I will take away its fence.

And the vineyard will be destroyed.

I will break down its wall.

And people will walk all over my vineyard.

6I will turn my vineyard into a dry and empty desert.

It will not be pruned or taken care of.

Thorns and bushes will grow there.

I will command the clouds

not to rain on it.”

7The vineyard of the Lord who rules over all

is the nation of Israel.

The people of Judah

are the vines he took delight in.

He kept looking for them to do what is fair.

But all he saw was blood being spilled.

He kept looking for them to do what is right.

But all he heard were cries of suffering.

The Lord Judges His Vineyard

8How terrible it will be for you who get too many houses!

How terrible for you who get too many fields!

Finally there won’t be any space left in the land.

Then you will live all alone.

9I heard the Lord who rules over all announce a message. He said,

“You can be sure that the great houses will become empty.

The fine homes will be left with no one living in them.

10A ten-acre vineyard will produce only six gallons of wine.

360 pounds of seeds will produce only 36 pounds of grain.”

11How terrible it will be for those who get up early in the morning

to start drinking!

How terrible for those who stay up late at night

until they are drunk with wine!

12They have harps and lyres at their banquets.

They have tambourines, flutes and wine.

But they don’t have any concern for the mighty acts of the Lord.

They don’t have any respect for what his power has done.

13So my people will be taken away as prisoners.

That’s because they don’t understand what the Lord has done.

Their nobles will die of hunger.

The rest of the people won’t have any water to drink.

14So Death opens its jaws to receive them.

Its mouth is open wide to swallow them up.

Their nobles and the rest of the people will go down into it.

They will go there together with all those who have wild parties.

15So people will be brought low.

Everyone will be made humble.

Those who brag will be brought down.

16But the Lord who rules over all will be honored

because he judges fairly.

The holy God will prove that he is holy

by doing what is right.

17Then sheep will graze as if they were in their own grasslands.

Lambs will eat grass among the destroyed buildings

where rich people used to live.

18How terrible it will be for those who continue to sin

and lie about it!

How terrible for those who keep on doing what is evil

as if they were tied to it!

19How terrible for those who say,

“Let God hurry up and do what he says he will.

We want to see it happen.

Let us see the plan of the Holy One of Israel.

We want to know what it is.”

20How terrible it will be for those who say

that what is evil is good!

How terrible for those who say

that what is good is evil!

How terrible for those who say

that darkness is light

and light is darkness!

How terrible for those who say

that what is bitter is sweet

and what is sweet is bitter!

21How terrible it will be for those who think they are wise!

How terrible for those who think they are really clever!

22How terrible it will be for those

who are heroes at drinking wine!

How terrible for those

who are heroes at mixing drinks!

23How terrible for those

who take money to set guilty people free!

How terrible for those

who don’t treat good people fairly!

24Flames of fire burn up straw.

Dry grass sinks down into those flames.

Evil people will be like plants whose roots rot away.

They will be like flowers that are blown away like dust.

That’s because they have said no to the law of the Lord who rules over all.

They have turned against the message of the Holy One of Israel.

25So the Lord is angry with his people.

He raises his hand against them and strikes them down.

The mountains shake.

The bodies of dead people lie in the streets like trash.

Even then, the Lord is still angry.

His hand is still raised against them.

26He lifts up a banner to gather the nations that are far away.

He whistles for them to come

from the farthest places on earth.

Here they come.

They are moving very quickly.

27None of them grows tired.

None of them falls down.

None of them sleeps or even takes a nap.

All of them are ready for battle.

Every belt is pulled tight.

Not a single sandal strap is broken.

28The enemies’ arrows are sharp.

All their bows are ready.

The hooves of their horses are as hard as rock.

Their chariot wheels turn like a twister.

29The sound of their army is like the roar of lions.

It’s like the roar of young lions.

They growl as they capture what they were chasing.

They carry it off.

No one can take it away from them.

30At that time the enemy army will roar over Israel.

It will sound like the roaring of the ocean.

If someone looks at the land of Israel,

there is only darkness and trouble.

The clouds will make even the sun become dark.