Isaiah 3:1-5:23
Tree of Life Version
Downfall of Jerusalem and Judah
3 For behold! The Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
takes from Jerusalem and from Judah
supply and support,
every supply of bread
and every supply of water,
2 mighty man and man of war,
judge, and prophet,
fortune-teller and elder,
3 captain of 50 and man of rank,
counselor, crafty magician and cunning charmer.
4 I will set children as their rulers.
Capricious ones will govern them.
5 The people will oppress one another—
each one by his fellow,
each one by his neighbor.
The child will be insolent to the aged,
and dishonarable to the honorable.
6 When a man takes hold of his brother
in the house of his father, saying:
“You have a cloak, you be our ruler!
This ruin is under your charge.”
7 In that day he will protest, saying:
“I’m no healer!
In my house is no bread or cloak.
Don’t make me a ruler of people!”
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah is fallen.
For their tongue and their actions
are against Adonai,
defying the eyes of His glory.
9 The expression of their faces
bears witness against them.
They display their sin like Sodom—
they do not hide it.
Oy, their souls!
For they brought evil on themselves.
The Judge Arises
10 Say to the righteous, he will be well,
eating the fruit of their deeds.
11 Oy, the wicked! It will be bad for him,
for the dealing of his hands will be done to him.
12 My people! Children are their oppressors
and women rule over them.
My people! Your guides mislead you
and destroy the way of your paths.
13 Adonai arises to contend a case,
and stands to judge the people.
14 Adonai will enter into judgment
with the elders of His people and with the princes:
“You have devoured the vineyard.
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing My people
and grinding the face of the poor?”
says Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot.
16 Moreover Adonai says:
“Since the Daughters of Zion are proud,
and walk with outstretched necks and seductive eyes,
walking and mincing as they go,
making a jingling with their feet,
17 therefore Adonai will smite with a scab the forehead of the Daughters of Zion.
Adonai will expose their secret parts.
18 In that day Adonai will strip the finery of anklets, headbands, crescents, 19 pendants and bracelets, veils, 20 headdresses, armlets, sashes, perfume vials, amulets, 21 rings and nose-jewels, 22 festal robes, capes, cloaks, purses, 23 lace scarves, fine linen, turbans and veils.
24 Now it will come to pass:
Instead of sweet spices there will be rottenness;
instead of a sash, rags;
instead of curled hair, baldness;
instead of fine clothing, sackcloth;
and branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men will fall by the sword,
and your warriors in battle.
26 Her gates will lament and mourn.
Desolate, she will sit on the ground.
4 Seven women will grab hold of one man in that day, saying:
“We will eat our own bread,
and wear our own apparel.
Only let us be called by your name—
take away our reproach!”
Zion’s End-Time Glory
2 In that day the Branch of Adonai will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land excellent and appealing for Israel’s survivors. 3 So it will come to pass that whoever is left in Zion and whoever remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.
4 After Adonai has washed away the filth of the Daughters of Zion and has purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, 5 then Adonai will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her convocations, a cloud by day, and smoke and shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all, glory will be a canopy[a]. 6 Then there will be a sukkah for shade by day from the heat, and for refuge and for shelter from storm and from rain.
Song of the Vineyard
5 Let me sing of my beloved,
a song of my beloved, about His vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard
in a very fertile hill.[b]
2 He dug it out and cleared its stones,
planted it with a choice vine,
built a tower in the midst of it,
and even cut out a winepress.
He expected it to yield good grapes,
but it yielded worthless grapes.
3 So now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
please judge
between me and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done?
Why then, when I expected it to yield good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?
5 So now, I will make known to you
what I will do to my vineyard:
I will take away the hedge,
and it will be eaten up.
I will break down the fence,
and it will be trodden down.
6 I will lay it waste:
it will not be pruned or hoed,
but briers and thorns will come up.
I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.
7 For the vineyard of Adonai-Tzva’ot
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
the planting of His delight.
He looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed,
for righteousness,
but behold, a cry!
Judgment for Injustice
8 Woe to those who join house to house
and merge field to field,
until there is no room,
and you will live alone
in the midst of the land!
9 In my ears, Adonai-Tzva’ot has said:
“Surely many houses will be desolate—
even grand and fine ones—
with no occupants.”
10 Ten acres of vineyard
will yield six gallons,
and an omer of seed
will yield one ephah.[c]
11 Woe to those who rise up early in the morning—
so they may pursue liquor,
who stay up late at night,
until wine inflames them!
12 Harp and lyre, tambourine and flute,
and wine are at their banquets.
They do not notice Adonai’s activity
nor see the works of His hands.
13 “Therefore My people are in captivity
for lack of knowledge.
Their honorable men are famished
and their multitudes parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its gullet
and opened its measureless mouth—
down goes her glory, her tumult,
her uproar, and the revelry in her.
15 So humanity will be bowed down
mankind will be humbled,
and the eyes of the lofty humbled.”
16 But Adonai-Tzva’ot will be exalted through justice,
and the Holy God consecrated through righteousness.
17 Then lambs will graze as if in their own pasture,
and nomads will eat in the ruins of the wealthy.
18 Oy to those that drag iniquity along with cords of deceit,
and sin as if with a cart rope!
19 They say: “Let Him hurry up
and hasten His work, so we may see it!
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel
draw near and come,
so we may know it!”
20 Oy to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who present darkness as light
and light as darkness,
who present bitter as sweet,
and sweet as bitter!
21 Oy to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and clever in their own sight!
22 Oy to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and valiant at mixing drinks,
23 who justify the wicked for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of justice!
Footnotes
- Isaiah 4:5 Heb. chuppah, i.e., for a wedding.
- Isaiah 5:1 Lit. a horn, the son of fatness.
- Isaiah 5:10 About six bushels yielding just one.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.