Isaiah 5-6

English Standard Version

³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
^4 (D)What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
^(E)When I looked for it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?

⁵ And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove ^(F)its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;^[a]
(G)I will break down its wall,
    and it shall be trampled down.
⁶ I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and ^(H)briers and thorns shall grow up;
^(I)I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.

^7 (J)For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;^[b]
for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry!^[c]

¹¹ Woe to those who ^(O)rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
^12 (P)They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
^(Q)but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
    or see the work of his hands.

¹³ Therefore my people go into exile
    ^(R)for lack of knowledge;^[f]
their ^(S)honored men go hungry,^[g]
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Sheol has ^(T)enlarged its appetite
    and opened ^(U)its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem^[h] and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who ^(V)exults in her.
^15 (W)Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty^[i] are brought low.
^16 (X)But the Lord of hosts is exalted^[j] in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
¹⁷ Then shall the lambs graze ^(Y)as in their pasture,
    and ^(Z)nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

¹⁸ Woe to those who draw iniquity with ^(AA)cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
¹⁹ who say: ^(AB)“Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”
²⁰ Woe to ^(AC)those who call evil good
    and good evil,
^(AD)who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!
²¹ Woe to those who are ^(AE)wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!
²² Woe to those who are ^(AF)heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
²³ who ^(AG)acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

²⁴ Therefore, ^(AH)as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so ^(AI)their root will be ^(AJ)as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have ^(AK)rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
    and have ^(AL)despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵ Therefore ^(AM)the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and ^(AN)the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were ^(AO)as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
^(AP)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

²⁶ He will ^(AQ)raise a signal for nations far away,
    and ^(AR)whistle for them ^(AS)from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
^27 (AT)None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
^28 (AU)their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels ^(AV)like the whirlwind.
²⁹ Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and ^(AW)seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and none can rescue.
³⁰ They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
    behold, ^(AX)darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.

^(BB)“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
^(BC)the whole earth is full of his glory!”^[l]

^(BK)“‘Keep on hearing,^[m] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,^[n] but do not perceive.’
^10 (BL)Make the heart of this people ^(BM)dull,^[o]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
^(BN)lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”
¹¹ Then I said, ^(BO)“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until ^(BP)cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
    and the land is a desolate waste,
¹² and the Lord removes people far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
^13 (BQ)And though a tenth remain in it,
    it will be burned^[p] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump ^(BR)remains
    when it is felled.”
^(BS)The holy seed^[q] is its stump.