Isaiah 5
The Lord describes a vineyard that he carefully tended, but it produced only wild vines instead of the expected grapes, symbolizing the unfaithfulness of the house of Israel. The Lord laments the injustices and corruption of the people, who prioritize wealth and drunkenness over justice and righteousness. As a result, the Lord will bring judgment and desolation upon the land, and the people will be led away as captives due to their ignorance and lack of knowledge. The Lord will be exalted in judgment, and the wicked will be punished for their iniquities.
1I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my paternal cousin, about his vineyard. A vineyard was made for my beloved, at the horn in the son of oil2And he fenced it in, and he picked the stones out of it, and he planted it with the best vines, and he built a tower in the middle of it, and he set up a winepress within it. And he expected it to produce grapes, but it produced wild vines3Now then, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah: judge between me and my vineyard4What more should I have done for my vineyard that I did not do for it? Should I not have expected it to produce grapes, though it produced wild vines5And now, I will reveal to you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its fence, and it will be plundered. I will pull down its wall, and it will be trampled6And I will make it desolate. It will not be pruned, and it will not be dug. And briers and thorns will rise up. And I will command the clouds not to rain upon it7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And the man of Judah is his delightful seedling. And I expected that he would do judgment, and behold iniquity, and that he would do justice, and behold an outcry8Woe to you who join house to house, and who combine field to field, even to the limits of the place! Do you intend to live alone in the midst of the earth9These things are in my ears, says the Lord of hosts. Otherwise, many houses, great and beautiful, will become desolate, without an inhabitant10Then ten acres of vineyard will produce one small bottle of wine, and thirty measures of seed will produce three measures of grain11Woe to you who rise up in the morning to pursue drunkenness, and to drink even until evening, so as to be inflamed with wine12Harp and lyre and timbrel and pipe, as well as wine, are at your feasts. But you do not respect the work of the Lord, nor do you consider the works of his hands13Because of this, my people have been led away as captives, for they did not have knowledge, and their nobles have passed away from famine, and their multitudes have dried up from thirst14For this reason, Hell has expanded its soul, and has opened its mouth without any limits. And their strong ones, and their people, and their exalted and glorious ones will descend into it15And man will be bowed down, and man will be humbled, and the eyes of the exalted will be brought low16And the Lord of hosts will be exalted in judgment, and the holy God will be sanctified in justice17And the lambs will pasture in proper order, and new arrivals will eat from the deserts turned into fertile lands18Woe to you who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and who draw sin as if with the rope of a cart19and who say: "Let him hurry, and let his work arrive soon, so that we may see it. And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach and arrive, so that we may know it.20Woe to you who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light, and light for darkness; who exchange bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter21Woe to you who are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight22Woe to you who are powerful at drinking wine, who are strong men in contriving inebriation23For you justify an impious man in exchange for bribes, and you carry away the justice of a just man from him24Because of this, as the tongue of fire devours stubble, and as the heat of a flame burns it completely, so will their root become like glowing embers, and so will their offshoot ascend like dust. For they have cast aside the law of the Lord of hosts, and they have blasphemed the eloquence of the Holy One of Israel25For this reason, the fury of the Lord has been enraged against his people, and he has extended his hand over them, and he has struck them. And the mountains were disturbed. And their carcasses became like dung in the midst of the streets. After all this, his fury was not turned away; instead, his hand was still extended26And he will lift up a sign to nations far away, and he will whistle to them from the ends of the earth. And behold, they will rush forward speedily27There is no one weak or struggling among them. They will not become drowsy, and they will not sleep. Neither will the belt around their waist be loosened, nor the laces of their boots be broken28Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are taut. The hoofs of their horses are like flint, and their wheels are like the force of a tempest29Their roaring is like the lion; they will roar like young lions. They will both roar and seize their prey. And they will wrap themselves around it, and there will be no one who can rescue it30And in that day, they will make a noise over it, like the sound of the sea. We will gaze out toward the land, and behold, the darkness of the tribulation, and even the light has been darkened by its gloom
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