Isaiah 4:2-5:30

New International Version

The Branch of the Lord

²In that day^(A) the Branch of the Lord^(B) will be beautiful^(C) and glorious, and the fruit^(D) of the land will be the pride and glory^(E) of the survivors^(F) in Israel. ³Those who are left in Zion,^(G) who remain^(H) in Jerusalem, will be called holy,^(I) all who are recorded^(J) among the living in Jerusalem. ⁴The Lord will wash away the filth^(K) of the women of Zion;^(L) he will cleanse^(M) the bloodstains^(N) from Jerusalem by a spirit^[a] of judgment^(O) and a spirit^[b] of fire.^(P) ⁵Then the Lord will create^(Q) over all of Mount Zion^(R) and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night;^(S) over everything the glory^[c]^(T) will be a canopy.^(U) ⁶It will be a shelter^(V) and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge^(W) and hiding place from the storm^(X) and rain.

The Song of the Vineyard

5 I will sing for the one I love
    a song about his vineyard:^(Y)
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.^(Z)
He built a watchtower^(AA) in it
    and cut out a winepress^(AB) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
    but it yielded only bad fruit.^(AC)

³“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard.^(AD)
⁴What more could have been done for my vineyard
    than I have done for it?^(AE)
When I looked for good grapes,
    why did it yield only bad?^(AF)
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;^(AG)
I will break down its wall,^(AH)
    and it will be trampled.^(AI)
⁶I will make it a wasteland,^(AJ)
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns^(AK) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain^(AL) on it.”

⁷The vineyard^(AM) 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,^(AN) but saw bloodshed;
    for righteousness,^(AO) but heard cries of distress.^(AP)

Woes and Judgments

⁸Woe^(AQ) to you who add house to house
and join field to field^(AR)
till no space is left
and you live alone in the land.

⁹The Lord Almighty^(AS) has declared in my hearing:^(AT)

“Surely the great houses will become desolate,^(AU)
the fine mansions left without occupants.
¹⁰A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath^[d] of wine;
a homer^[e] of seed will yield only an ephah^[f] of grain.”^(AV)

¹¹Woe^(AW) 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.^(AX)
¹²They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
    pipes^(AY) and timbrels^(AZ) and wine,
but they have no regard^(BA) for the deeds of the Lord,
    no respect for the work of his hands.^(BB)
¹³Therefore my people will go into exile^(BC)
    for lack of understanding;^(BD)
those of high rank^(BE) will die of hunger
    and the common people will be parched with thirst.^(BF)
¹⁴Therefore Death^(BG) expands its jaws,
    opening wide its mouth;^(BH)
into it will descend their nobles and masses
    with all their brawlers and revelers.^(BI)
¹⁵So people will be brought low^(BJ)
    and everyone humbled,^(BK)
    the eyes of the arrogant^(BL) humbled.
¹⁶But the Lord Almighty will be exalted^(BM) by his justice,^(BN)
    and the holy God will be proved holy^(BO) by his righteous acts.
¹⁷Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;^(BP)
    lambs will feed^[g] among the ruins of the rich.

¹⁸Woe^(BQ) to those who draw sin along with cords^(BR) of deceit,
    and wickedness^(BS) as with cart ropes,
¹⁹to those who say, “Let God hurry;
    let him hasten^(BT) his work
    so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One^(BU) of Israel—
    let it approach, let it come into view,
    so we may know it.”^(BV)

²⁰Woe^(BW) to those who call evil good^(BX)
    and good evil,^(BY)
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,^(BZ)
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter.^(CA)

²¹Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes^(CB)
and clever in their own sight.

²²Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine^(CC)
    and champions at mixing drinks,^(CD)
²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe,^(CE)
    but deny justice^(CF) to the innocent.^(CG)
²⁴Therefore, as tongues of fire^(CH) lick up straw^(CI)
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay^(CJ)
    and their flowers blow away like dust;^(CK)
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
    and spurned the word^(CL) of the Holy One^(CM) of Israel.
²⁵Therefore the Lord’s anger^(CN) burns against his people;
    his hand is raised and he strikes them down.
The mountains shake,^(CO)
    and the dead bodies^(CP) are like refuse^(CQ) in the streets.^(CR)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,^(CS)
his hand is still upraised.^(CT)

²⁶He lifts up a banner^(CU) for the distant nations,
    he whistles^(CV) for those at the ends of the earth.^(CW)
Here they come,
    swiftly and speedily!
²⁷Not one of them grows tired^(CX) or stumbles,
    not one slumbers or sleeps;
not a belt^(CY) is loosened at the waist,^(CZ)
    not a sandal strap is broken.^(DA)
²⁸Their arrows are sharp,^(DB)
    all their bows^(DC) are strung;
their horses’ hooves^(DD) seem like flint,
    their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.^(DE)
²⁹Their roar is like that of the lion,^(DF)
    they roar like young lions;
they growl as they seize^(DG) their prey
    and carry it off with no one to rescue.^(DH)
³⁰In that day^(DI) they will roar over it
    like the roaring of the sea.^(DJ)
And if one looks at the land,
    there is only darkness^(DK) and distress;^(DL)
    even the sun will be darkened^(DM) by clouds.

Footnotes

Isaiah 4:4 Or the Spirit
Isaiah 4:4 Or the Spirit
Isaiah 4:5 Or over all the glory there
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

Proverbs 2

New International Version

Moral Benefits of Wisdom

2 My son,^(A) if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
²turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding^(B)—
³indeed, if you call out for insight^(C)
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,^(D)
⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.^(E)
⁶For the Lord gives wisdom;^(F)
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.^(G)
⁷He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield^(H) to those whose walk is blameless,^(I)
⁸for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.^(J)

⁹Then you will understand^(K) what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart,^(L)
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
¹¹Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.^(M)

¹²Wisdom will save^(N) you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
¹³who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,^(O)
¹⁴who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,^(P)
¹⁵whose paths are crooked^(Q)
    and who are devious in their ways.^(R)

¹⁶Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,^(S)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
¹⁷who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.^[a]^(T)
¹⁸Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.^(U)
¹⁹None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.^(V)

²⁰Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹For the upright will live in the land,^(W)
    and the blameless will remain in it;
²²but the wicked^(X) will be cut off from the land,^(Y)
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.^(Z)