Isaiah 3:8-5:23
English Standard Version
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen,
because their (A)speech and their deeds are against the Lord,
(B)defying his glorious presence.[a]
9 For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
they proclaim their sin (C)like Sodom;
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
(D)For they have brought evil on themselves.
10 (E)Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
(F)for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 (G)Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
12 My people—(H)infants are their oppressors,
and women rule over them.
O my people, (I)your guides mislead you
and they have swallowed up[b] the course of your paths.
13 The Lord (J)has taken his place to contend;
he stands to judge peoples.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment
with the (K)elders and princes of his people:
“It is you who (L)have devoured[c] the vineyard,
(M)the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by (N)crushing my people,
by grinding the face of the poor?”
declares the Lord God of hosts.
16 The Lord said:
(O)Because (P)the daughters of Zion are haughty
and walk with outstretched necks,
glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
(Q)tinkling with their feet,
17 therefore the Lord (R)will strike with a scab
the heads of (S)the daughters of Zion,
and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.
18 In that day the Lord will take away (T)the finery of the anklets, the (U)headbands, and the (V)crescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the (W)headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and (X)nose rings; 22 the (Y)festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
24 Instead of (Z)perfume there will be rottenness;
and instead of a (AA)belt, a rope;
and instead of (AB)well-set hair, (AC)baldness;
and instead of a rich robe, a (AD)skirt of sackcloth;
and (AE)branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword
and your mighty men in battle.
26 And (AF)her gates shall lament and mourn;
empty, she shall (AG)sit on the ground.
4 (AH)And seven women (AI)shall take hold of (AJ)one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; (AK)take away our reproach.”
The Branch of the Lord Glorified
2 In that day (AL)the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and (AM)the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 (AN)And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called (AO)holy, everyone who has (AP)been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when (AQ)the Lord shall have washed away the filth of (AR)the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by (AS)a spirit of burning.[d] 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies (AT)a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be (AU)a canopy. 6 (AV)There will be a (AW)booth for shade by day from the heat, and (AX)for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed
5 Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had (AY)a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with (AZ)choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and (BA)he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 (BB)What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
(BC)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 (BD)its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;[e]
(BE)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 (BF)briers and thorns shall grow up;
(BG)I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 (BH)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;[f]
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry![g]
Woe to the Wicked
8 Woe to those who (BI)join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to dwell alone
in the midst of the land.
9 The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
(BJ)“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 (BK)For ten acres[h] of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
and a (BL)homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”[i]
11 Woe to those who (BM)rise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
as wine inflames them!
12 (BN)They have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
(BO)but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.
13 Therefore my people go into exile
(BP)for lack of knowledge;[j]
their (BQ)honored men go hungry,[k]
and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has (BR)enlarged its appetite
and opened (BS)its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem[l] and her multitude will go down,
her revelers and he who (BT)exults in her.
15 (BU)Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty[m] are brought low.
16 (BV)But the Lord of hosts is exalted[n] in justice,
and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze (BW)as in their pasture,
and (BX)nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with (BY)cords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: (BZ)“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 (CA)those who call evil good
and good evil,
(CB)who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are (CC)wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are (CD)heroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who (CE)acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!
Footnotes
- Isaiah 3:8 Hebrew the eyes of his glory
- Isaiah 3:12 Or they have confused
- Isaiah 3:14 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5
- Isaiah 4:4 Or purging
- Isaiah 5:5 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5
- Isaiah 5:7 The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike
- Isaiah 5:7 The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike
- Isaiah 5:10 Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day
- Isaiah 5:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
- Isaiah 5:13 Or without their knowledge
- Isaiah 5:13 Or die of hunger
- Isaiah 5:14 Hebrew her nobility
- Isaiah 5:15 Hebrew high
- Isaiah 5:16 Hebrew high
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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