Worthy.Bible » Parallel » Isaiah » Chapter 5

Isaiah 5:1-30 King James Version (KJV)

1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

9 In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.

30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Isaiah 5:1-30 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 Now will I sing H7891 to my wellbeloved H3039 a song H7892 of my beloved H1730 touching his vineyard. H3754 My wellbeloved H3039 hath a vineyard H3754 in a very fruitful H1121 H8081 hill: H7161

2 And he fenced H5823 it, and gathered out the stones H5619 thereof, and planted H5193 it with the choicest vine, H8321 and built H1129 a tower H4026 in the midst H8432 of it, and also made H2672 a winepress H3342 therein: and he looked H6960 that it should bring forth H6213 grapes, H6025 and it brought forth H6213 wild grapes. H891

3 And now, O inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem, H3389 and men H376 of Judah, H3063 judge, H8199 I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. H3754

4 What could have been done H6213 more to my vineyard, H3754 that I have not done H6213 in it? wherefore, H4069 when I looked H6960 that it should bring forth H6213 grapes, H6025 brought it forth H6213 wild grapes? H891

5 And now go to; I will tell H3045 you what I will do H6213 to my vineyard: H3754 I will take away H5493 the hedge H4881 thereof, and it shall be eaten up; H1197 and break down H6555 the wall H1447 thereof, and it shall be trodden down: H4823

6 And I will lay H7896 it waste: H1326 it shall not be pruned, H2168 nor digged; H5737 but there shall come up H5927 briers H8068 and thorns: H7898 I will also command H6680 the clouds H5645 that they rain H4305 no rain H4306 upon it.

7 For the vineyard H3754 of the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 is the house H1004 of Israel, H3478 and the men H376 of Judah H3063 his pleasant H8191 plant: H5194 and he looked H6960 for judgment, H4941 but behold oppression; H4939 for righteousness, H6666 but behold a cry. H6818

8 Woe H1945 unto them that join H5060 house H1004 to house, H1004 that lay H7126 field H7704 to field, H7704 till there be no H657 place, H4725 that they may be placed H3427 alone in the midst H7130 of the earth! H776

9 In mine ears H241 said the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 Of a truth H3808 many H7227 houses H1004 shall be desolate, H8047 even great H1419 and fair, H2896 without inhabitant. H3427

10 Yea, H3588 ten H6235 acres H6776 of vineyard H3754 shall yield H6213 one H259 bath, H1324 and the seed H2233 of an homer H2563 shall yield H6213 an ephah. H374

11 Woe H1945 unto them that rise up early H7925 in the morning, H1242 that they may follow H7291 strong drink; H7941 that continue H309 until night, H5399 till wine H3196 inflame H1814 them!

12 And the harp, H3658 and the viol, H5035 the tabret, H8596 and pipe, H2485 and wine, H3196 are in their feasts: H4960 but they regard H5027 not the work H6467 of the LORD, H3068 neither consider H7200 the operation H4639 of his hands. H3027

13 Therefore my people H5971 are gone into captivity, H1540 because they have no knowledge: H1847 and their honourable H3519 men H4962 are famished, H7458 and their multitude H1995 dried up H6704 with thirst. H6772

14 Therefore hell H7585 hath enlarged H7337 herself, H5315 and opened H6473 her mouth H6310 without measure: H2706 and their glory, H1926 and their multitude, H1995 and their pomp, H7588 and he that rejoiceth, H5938 shall descend H3381 into it.

15 And the mean man H120 shall be brought down, H7817 and the mighty man H376 shall be humbled, H8213 and the eyes H5869 of the lofty H1364 shall be humbled: H8213

16 But the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 shall be exalted H1361 in judgment, H4941 and God H410 that is holy H6918 shall be sanctified H6942 in righteousness. H6666

17 Then shall the lambs H3532 feed H7462 after their manner, H1699 and the waste places H2723 of the fat ones H4220 shall strangers H1481 eat. H398

18 Woe H1945 unto them that draw H4900 iniquity H5771 with cords H2256 of vanity, H7723 and sin H2403 as it were with a cart H5699 rope: H5688

19 That say, H559 Let him make speed, H4116 and hasten H2363 his work, H4639 that we may see H7200 it: and let the counsel H6098 of the Holy One H6918 of Israel H3478 draw nigh H7126 and come, H935 that we may know H3045 it!

20 Woe H1945 unto them that call H559 evil H7451 good, H2896 and good H2896 evil; H7451 that put H7760 darkness H2822 for light, H216 and light H216 for darkness; H2822 that put H7760 bitter H4751 for sweet, H4966 and sweet H4966 for bitter! H4751

21 Woe H1945 unto them that are wise H2450 in their own eyes, H5869 and prudent H995 in their own sight! H6440

22 Woe H1945 unto them that are mighty H1368 to drink H8354 wine, H3196 and men H582 of strength H2428 to mingle H4537 strong drink: H7941

23 Which justify H6663 the wicked H7563 for H6118 reward, H7810 and take away H5493 the righteousness H6666 of the righteous H6662 from him!

24 Therefore as the fire H784 devoureth H398 the stubble, H7179 and the flame H3956 H3852 consumeth H7503 the chaff, H2842 so their root H8328 shall be as rottenness, H4716 and their blossom H6525 shall go up H5927 as dust: H80 because they have cast away H3988 the law H8451 of the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 and despised H5006 the word H565 of the Holy One H6918 of Israel. H3478

25 Therefore is the anger H639 of the LORD H3068 kindled H2734 against his people, H5971 and he hath stretched forth H5186 his hand H3027 against them, and hath smitten H5221 them: and the hills H2022 did tremble, H7264 and their carcases H5038 were torn H5478 in the midst H7130 of the streets. H2351 For all this his anger H639 is not turned away, H7725 but his hand H3027 is stretched out H5186 still.

26 And he will lift up H5375 an ensign H5251 to the nations H1471 from far, H7350 and will hiss H8319 unto them from the end H7097 of the earth: H776 and, behold, they shall come H935 with speed H4120 swiftly: H7031

27 None shall be weary H5889 nor stumble H3782 among them; none shall slumber H5123 nor sleep; H3462 neither shall the girdle H232 of their loins H2504 be loosed, H6605 nor the latchet H8288 of their shoes H5275 be broken: H5423

28 Whose arrows H2671 are sharp, H8150 and all their bows H7198 bent, H1869 their horses' H5483 hoofs H6541 shall be counted H2803 like flint, H6862 and their wheels H1534 like a whirlwind: H5492

29 Their roaring H7581 shall be like a lion, H3833 they shall roar H7580 H7580 like young lions: H3715 yea, they shall roar, H5098 and lay hold H270 of the prey, H2964 and shall carry it away safe, H6403 and none shall deliver H5337 it.

30 And in that day H3117 they shall roar H5098 against them like the roaring H5100 of the sea: H3220 and if one look H5027 unto the land, H776 behold darkness H2822 and sorrow, H6862 and the light H216 is darkened H2821 in the heavens H6183 thereof.

Isaiah 5:1-30 American Standard (ASV)

1 Let me sing for my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2 and he digged it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6 and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7 For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry.

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!

9 In mine ears `saith' Jehovah of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield `but' an ephah.

11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that tarry late into the night, till wine inflame them!

12 And the harp and the lute, the tabret and the pipe, and wine, are `in' their feasts; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are parched with thirst.

14 Therefore Sheol hath enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth among them, descend `into it'.

15 And the mean man is bowed down, and the great man is humbled, and the eyes of the lofty are humbled:

16 but Jehovah of hosts is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.

17 Then shall the lambs feed as in their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall wanderers eat.

18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin as it were with a cart rope;

19 that say, Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink;

23 that justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

24 Therefore as the tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, and as the dry grass sinketh down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss for them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.

27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

28 whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs shall be accounted as flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind:

29 their roaring shall be like a lioness, they shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and carry it away safe, and there shall be none to deliver.

30 And they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold, darkness `and' distress; and the light is darkened in the clouds thereof.

Isaiah 5:1-30 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 Let me sing, I pray you, for my beloved, A song of my beloved as to his vineyard: My beloved hath a vineyard in a fruitful hill,

2 And he fenceth it, and casteth out its stones, And planteth it `with' a choice vine, And buildeth a tower in its midst, And also a wine press hath hewn out in it, And he waiteth for the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones!

3 And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.

4 What -- to do still to my vineyard, That I have not done in it! Wherefore, I waited to the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones!

5 And now, pray, let me cause you to know, That which I am doing to my vineyard, To turn aside its hedge, And it hath been for consumption, To break down its wall, And it hath been for a treading-place.

6 And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain.

7 Because the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts `Is' the house of Israel, And the man of Judah His pleasant plant, And He waiteth for judgment, and lo, oppression, For righteousness, and lo, a cry.

8 Wo `to' those joining house to house, Field to field they bring near, till there is no place, And ye have been settled by yourselves In the midst of the land!

9 By the weapons of Jehovah of Hosts Do not many houses a desolation become? Great and good without inhabitant!

10 For ten acres of vineyard do yield one bath, And an homer of seed yieldeth an ephah.

11 Wo `to' those rising early in the morning, Strong drink they pursue! Tarrying in twilight, wine inflameth them!

12 And harp, and psaltery, tabret, and pipe, And wine, have been their banquets, And the work of Jehovah they behold not, Yea, the work of His hands they have not seen.

13 Therefore my people removed without knowledge, And its honourable ones are famished, And its multitude dried up of thirst.

14 Therefore hath Sheol enlarged herself, And hath opened her mouth without limit. And gone down hath its honour, and its multitude, And its noise, and its exulting one -- into her.

15 And bowed down is the low, and humbled the high, And the eyes of the haughty become low,

16 And Jehovah of Hosts is high in judgment, And the Holy God sanctified in righteousness,

17 And fed have lambs according to their leading, And waste places of the fat ones Do sojourners consume.

18 Wo `to' those drawing out iniquity with cords of vanity, And as `with' thick ropes of the cart -- sin.

19 Who are saying, `Let Him hurry, Let Him hasten His work, that we may see, And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel Draw near and come, and we know.'

20 Wo `to' those saying to evil `good,' And to good `evil,' Putting darkness for light, and light for darkness, Putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.

21 Wo `to' the wise in their own eyes, And -- before their own faces -- intelligent!

22 Wo `to' the mighty to drink wine, And men of strength to mingle strong drink.

23 Declaring righteous the wicked for a bribe, And the righteousness of the righteous They turn aside from him.

24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire devoureth stubble, And flaming hay falleth, Their root is as muck, And their flower as dust goeth up. Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of Hosts, And the saying of the Holy One of Israel despised.

25 Therefore hath the anger of Jehovah burned among His people, And He stretcheth out His hand against it, And smiteth it, and the mountains tremble, And their carcase is as filth in the midst of the out-places. With all this His anger did not turn back, And still His hand is stretched out!

26 And He lifted up an ensign to nations afar off, And hissed to it from the end of the earth, And lo, with haste, swift it cometh.

27 There is none weary, nor stumbling in it, It doth not slumber, nor sleep, Nor opened hath been the girdle of its loins, Nor drawn away the latchet of its sandals.

28 Whose arrows `are' sharp, and all its bows bent, Hoofs of its horses as flint have been reckoned, And its wheels as a hurricane!

29 Its roaring `is' like a lioness, It roareth like young lions, And it howleth, and seizeth prey, And carrieth away safely, and there is none delivering.

30 And it howleth against it in that day as the howling of a sea, And it hath looked attentively to the land, And lo, darkness -- distress, And light hath been darkened by its abundance!

Isaiah 5:1-30 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

1 I will sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard: My well-beloved had a vineyard upon a fruitful hill.

2 And he dug it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine; and he built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes.

3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.

4 What was there yet to do to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? --

5 And now, let me tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trodden under foot;

6 and I will make it a waste -- it shall not be pruned nor cultivated, but there shall come up briars and thorns; and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7 For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the plant of his delight: and he looked for justice, and behold, blood-shedding; for righteousness, and behold, a cry.

8 Woe unto them that add house to house, that join field to field, until there is no more room, and that ye dwell yourselves alone in the midst of the land!

9 In mine ears Jehovah of hosts [hath said], Many houses shall assuredly become a desolation, great and excellent ones, without inhabitant.

10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah.

11 Woe unto them that, rising early in the morning, run after strong drink; that linger till twilight, [till] wine inflameth them!

12 And harp and lyre, tambour and flute, and wine are in their banquets; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, nor do they see the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people are led away captive from lack of knowledge, and their nobility die of famine, and their multitude are parched with thirst.

14 Therefore doth Sheol enlarge its desire, and open its mouth without measure; and her splendour shall descend [into it], and her multitude, and her tumult, and [all] that is joyful within her.

15 And the mean man shall be bowed down, and the great man brought low, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low;

16 and Jehovah of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy ùGod hallowed in righteousness.

17 And the lambs shall feed as on their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as with cart-ropes!

19 who say, Let him hasten, let him speed his work, that we may see [it]; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

20 Woe unto them who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent in their own esteem!

22 Woe unto them that are mighty for drinking wine, and men valiant to mix strong drink;

23 who justify the wicked for a bribe, and turn away the righteousness of the righteous from them!

24 Therefore as a tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, and dry grass sinketh down in the flame, their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; for they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and he hath stretched out his hand against them and hath smitten them; and the mountains trembled, and their carcases are become as dung in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

26 And he will lift up a banner to the nations afar off, and will hiss for one from the end of the earth; and behold, it will come rapidly [and] lightly.

27 None among them is weary, none stumbleth; they slumber not, nor sleep; none hath the girdle of his loins loosed, nor the thong of his sandals broken;

28 their arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs are reckoned as the flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind.

29 Their roaring is like a lioness, they roar as the young lions; yea, they growl, and snatch the prey, and carry it away safe, and there is none to deliver;

30 and they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. And if one look upon the earth, behold darkness [and] distress, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Isaiah 5:1-30 World English Bible (WEB)

1 Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.

2 He dug it up, Gathered out its stones, Planted it with the choicest vine, Built a tower in its midst, And also cut out a winepress therein. He looked for it to yield grapes, But it yielded wild grapes.

3 "Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Please judge between me and my vineyard.

4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?

5 Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall of it, and it will be trampled down.

6 I will lay it a wasteland. It won't be pruned nor hoed, But it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it."

7 For the vineyard of Yahweh of Hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah his pleasant plant: And he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; For righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.

8 Woe to those who join house to house, Who lay field to field, until there is no room, And you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!

9 In my ears, Yahweh of Hosts says: "Surely many houses will be desolate, Even great and beautiful, unoccupied.

10 For ten acres{Literally, ten yokes, or the amount of land that ten yokes of oxen can plow in one day, which is about 10 acres or 4 hectares.} of vineyard shall yield one bath,{1 bath is about 22 litres, 5.8 U. S. gallons, or 4.8 imperial gallons} And a homer{1 homer is about 220 litres or 6 bushels} of seed shall yield an ephah.{1 ephah is about 22 litres or 0.6 bushels or about 2 pecks)-- only one tenth of what was sown.}"

11 Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; Who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!

12 The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; But they don't regard the work of Yahweh, Neither have they considered the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitudes are parched with thirst.

14 Therefore Sheol{Sheol is the place of the dead.} has enlarged its desire, And opened its mouth without measure; And their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it.

15 So man is brought low, Mankind is humbled, And the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;

16 But Yahweh of Hosts is exalted in justice, And God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.

17 Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.

18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, And wickedness as with cart rope;

19 Who say, "Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it!"

20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, And light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, And sweet for bitter!

21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!

22 Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, And champions at mixing strong drink;

23 Who acquit the guilty for a bribe, But deny justice for the innocent!

24 Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, And as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, So their root shall be as rottenness, And their blossom shall go up as dust; Because they have rejected the law of Yahweh of Hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore Yahweh's anger burns against his people, And he has stretched out his hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, And their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, But his hand is still stretched out.

26 He will lift up a banner to the nations from far, And he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly.

27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; None shall slumber nor sleep; Neither shall the belt of their loins be untied, Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

28 Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs will be like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind.

29 Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, And seize their prey and carry it off, And there will be no one to deliver.

30 They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.

Isaiah 5:1-30 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 Let me make a song about my loved one, a song of love for his vine-garden. My loved one had a vine-garden on a fertile hill:

2 And after working the earth of it with a spade, he took away its stones, and put in it a very special vine; and he put up a watchtower in the middle of it, hollowing out in the rock a place for the grape-crushing; and he was hoping that it would give the best grapes, but it gave common grapes.

3 And now, you people of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, be the judges between me and my vine-garden.

4 Is there anything which might have been done for my vine-garden which I have not done? why then, when I was hoping for the best grapes did it give me common grapes?

5 And now, this is what I will do to my vine-garden: I will take away the circle of thorns round it, and it will be burned up; its wall will be broken down and the beasts of the field will go through it;

6 And I will make it waste; its branches will not be touched with the knife, or the earth worked with the spade; but blackberries and thorns will come up in it: and I will give orders to the clouds not to send rain on it.

7 For the vine-garden of the Lord of armies is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he was looking for upright judging, and there was blood; for righteousness, and there was a cry for help.

8 Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!

9 The Lord of armies has said to me secretly, Truly, numbers of great and fair houses will be waste, with no one living in them.

10 For ten fields of vines will only give one measure of wine, and a great amount of seed will only give a small measure of grain.

11 Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine!

12 And corded instruments and wind-instruments and wine are in their feasts: but they give no thought to the work of the Lord, and they are not interested in what his hands are doing.

13 For this cause my people are taken away as prisoners into strange countries for need of knowledge: and their rulers are wasted for need of food, and their loud-voiced feasters are dry for need of water.

14 For this cause the underworld has made wide its throat, opening its mouth without limit: and her glory, and the noise of her masses, and her loud-voiced feasters, will go down into it.

15 And the poor man's head is bent, and the great man goes down on his face, and the eyes of pride are put to shame:

16 But the Lord of armies is lifted up as judge, and the Holy God is seen to be holy in righteousness.

17 Then the lambs will get food as in their grass-lands, and the fat cattle will be feasting in the waste places.

18 Cursed are those who make use of ox-cords for pulling the evil thing, and the bands of a young ox for their sin!

19 Who say, Let him do his work quickly, let him make it sudden, so that we may see it: let the design of the Holy One of Israel come near, so that it may be clear to us.

20 Cursed are those who give the name of good to evil, and of evil to what is good: who make light dark, and dark light: who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter!

21 Cursed are those who seem wise to themselves, and who take pride in their knowledge!

22 Cursed are those who are strong to take wine, and great in making mixed drinks!

23 Who for a reward give support to the cause of the sinner, and who take away the righteousness of the upright from him.

24 For this cause, as the waste of the grain is burned up by tongues of fire, and as the dry grass goes down before the flame, so their root will be like the dry stems of grain, and their flower will go up in dust: because they have gone against the law of the Lord of armies, and have given no honour to the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 For this reason the wrath of the Lord has been burning against his people, and his hand has been stretched out against them in punishment, and the hills were shaking, and their dead bodies were like waste in the open places of the town.

26 And he will let a flag be lifted up as a sign to a far-off nation, whistling to them from the ends of the earth: and they will come quickly and suddenly.

27 There is no weariness among them, and no man is feeble-footed: they come without resting or sleeping, and the cord of their shoes is not broken.

28 Their arrows are sharp, and every bow is bent: the feet of their horses are like rock, and their wheels are like a rushing storm.

29 The sound of their armies will be like the voice of a lion, and their war-cry like the noise of young lions: with loud cries they will come down on their food and will take it away safely, and there will be no one to take it out of their hands.

30 And his voice will be loud over him in that day like the sounding of the sea: and if a man's eyes are turned to the earth, it is all dark and full of trouble; and the light is made dark by thick clouds.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 5

Commentary on Isaiah 5 Matthew Henry Commentary

John Gill   Keil & Delitzsch   Robert Jamieson: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible  

Chapter 5

In this chapter the prophet, in God's name, shows the people of God their transgressions, even the house of Jacob their sins, and the judgments which were likely to be brought upon them for their sins,

  • I. By a parable, under the similitude of an unfruitful vineyard, representing the great favours God had bestowed upon them, their disappointing his expectations from them, and the ruin they had thereby deserved (v. 1-7).
  • II. By an enumeration of the sins that did abound among them, with a threatening of punishments that should answer to the sins.
    • 1. Covetousness, and greediness of worldly wealth, which shall be punished with famine (v. 8-10)
    • 2. Rioting, revelling, and drunkenness (v. 11, 12, 22, 23), which shall be punished with captivity and all the miseries that attend it (v. 13-17).
    • 3. Presumption in sin, and defying the justice of God (v. 18, 19).
    • 4. Confounding the distinctions between virtue and vice, and so undermining the principles of religion (v. 20).
    • 5. Self-conceit (v. 21).
    • 6. Perverting justice, for which, and the other instances of reigning wickedness among them, a great and general desolation in threatened, which should lay all waste (v. 24, 25), and which should be effected by a foreign invasion (v. 26-30), referring perhaps to the havoc made not long after by Sennacherib's army.

Isa 5:1-7

See what variety of methods the great God takes to awaken sinners to repentance by convincing them of sin, and showing them their misery and danger by reason of it. To this purport he speaks sometimes in plain terms and sometimes in parables, sometimes in prose and sometimes in verse, as here. "We have tried to reason with you (ch. 1:18); now let us put your case into a poem, inscribed to the honour of my well beloved.' God the Father dictates it to the honour of Christ his well beloved Son, whom he has constituted Lord of the vineyard. The prophet sings it to the honour of Christ too, for he is his well beloved. The Old-Testament prophets were friends of the bridegroom. Christ is God's beloved Son and our beloved Saviour. Whatever is said or sung of the church must be intended to his praise, even that which (like this) tends to our shame. This parable was put into a song that it might be the more moving and affecting, might be the more easily learned and exactly remembered, and the better transmitted to posterity; and it is an exposition of he song of Moses (Deu. 32), showing that what he then foretold was now fulfilled. Jerome says, Christ the well-beloved did in effect sing this mournful song when he beheld Jerusalem and wept over it (Lu. 19:41), and had reference to it in the parable of the vineyard (Mt. 21:33, etc.), only here the fault was in the vines, there in the husbandmen. Here we have,

  • I. The great things which God had done for the Jewish church and nation. When all the rest of the world lay in common, not cultivated by divine revelation, that was his vineyard, they were his peculiar people. He acknowledged them as his own, set them apart for himself. The soil they were planted in was extraordinary; it was a very fruitful hill, the horn of the son of oil; so it is in the margin. There was plenty, a cornucopia; and there was dainty: they did there eat the fat and drink the sweet, and so were furnished with abundance of good things to honour God with in sacrifices and free-will offerings. The advantages of our situation will be brought into the account another day. Observe further what God did for this vineyard.
    • 1. He fenced it, took it under his special protection, kept it night and day under his own eye, lest any should hurt it, ch. 27:2, 3. If they had not themselves thrown down their fence, no inroad could have been made upon them, Ps. 125:2; 121:4.
    • 2. He gathered the stones out of it, that, as nothing from without might damage it, so nothing within might obstruct its fruitfulness. He proffered his grace to take away the stony heart.
    • 3. He planted it with the choicest vine, set up a pure religion among them, gave them a most excellent law, instituted ordinances very proper for the keeping up of their acquaintance with God, Jer. 2:21.
    • 4. He built a tower in the midst of it, either for defence against violence or for the dressers of the vineyard to lodge in; or rather it was for the owner of the vineyard to sit in, to take a view of the vines (Cant. 7:12)-a summer-house. The temple was this tower, about which the priests lodged, and where God promised to meet his people, and gave them the tokens of his presence among them and pleasure in them.
    • 5. He made a wine-press therein, set up his altar, to which the sacrifices, as the fruits of the vineyard, should be brought.
  • II. The disappointment of his just expectations from them: He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and a great deal of reason he had for that expectation. Note, God expects vineyard-fruit from those that enjoy vineyard-privileges, not leaves only, as Mk. 11:13. A bare profession, though ever so green, will not serve: there must be more than buds and blossoms. Good purposes and good beginnings are good things, but not enough; there must be fruit, a good heart and a good life, vineyard fruit, thoughts and affections, words and actions, agreeable to the Spirit, which is the fatness of the vineyard (Gal. 5:22, 23), answerable to the ordinances, which are the dressings of the vineyard, acceptable to God, the Lord of the vineyard, and fruit according to the season. Such fruit as this God expects from us, grapes, the fruit of the vine, with which they honour God and man (Jdg. 9:13); and his expectations are neither high nor hard, but righteous and very reasonable. Yet see how his expectations are frustrated: It brought forth wild grapes; not only no fruit at all, but bad fruit, worse than none, grapes of Sodom, Deu. 32:32.
    • 1. Wild grapes are the fruits of the corrupt nature, fruit according to the crabstock, not according to the engrafted branch, from the root of bitterness, Heb. 12:15. Where grace does not work corruption will.
    • 2. Wild grapes are hypocritical performances in religion, that look like grapes, but are sour or bitter, and are so far from being pleasing to God that they are provoking, as theirs mentioned in ch. 1:11. Counterfeit graces are wild grapes.
  • III. An appeal to themselves whether upon the whole matter God must not be justified and they condemned, v. 3, 4. And now the case is plainly stated: O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah! judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. This implies that God was blamed about them. There was a controversy between them and him; but the equity was so plain on his side that he could venture to put the decision of the controversy to their own consciences. "Let any inhabitant of Jerusalem, any man of Judah, that has but the use of his reason and a common sense of equity and justice, speak his mind impartially in this matter.' Here is a challenge to any man to show,
    • 1. Any instance wherein God had been wanting to them: What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? He speaks of the external means of fruitfulness, and such as might be expected from the dresser of a vineyard, from whom it is not required that he should change the nature of the vine. What ought to have been done more? so it may be read. They had everything requisite for instruction and direction in their duty, for quickening them to it and putting them in mind of it. No inducements were wanting to persuade them to it, but all arguments were used that were proper to work either upon hope or fear; and they had all the opportunities they could desire for the performance of their duty, the new moons, and the sabbaths, and solemn feasts; They had the scriptures, the lively oracles, a standing ministry in the priests and Levites, besides what was extraordinary in the prophets. No nation had statutes and judgments so righteous.
    • 2. Nor could any tolerable excuse be offered for their walking thus contrary to God. "Wherefore, what reason can be given why it should bring forth wild grapes, when I looked for grapes?' Note, The wickedness of those that profess religion, and enjoy the means of grace, is the most unreasonable unaccountable thing in the world, and the whole blame of it must lie upon the sinners themselves. "If thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it, and shalt not have a word to say for thyself in the judgment of the great day.' God will prove his own ways equal and the sinner's ways unequal.
  • IV. Their doom read, and a righteous sentence passed upon them for their bad conduct towards God (v. 5, 6): "And now go to, since nothing can be offered in excuse of the crime or arrest of the judgement, I will tell you what I am now determined to do to my vineyard. I will be vexed and troubled with it no more; since it will be good for nothing, it shall be good for nothing; in short, it shall cease to be a vineyard, and be turned into a wilderness: the church of the Jews shall be unchurched; their charter shall be taken away, and they shall become lo-ammi-not my people.'
    • 1. "They shall no longer be distinguished as a peculiar people, but be laid in common: I will take away the hedge thereof, and then it will soon be eaten up and become as bare as other ground.' They mingled with the nations and therefore were justly scattered among them.
    • 2. "They shall no longer be protected as God's people, but left exposed. God will not only suffer the wall to go to decay, but he will break it down, will remove all their defences from them, and then they will become an easy prey to their enemies, who have long waited for an opportunity to do them a mischief, and will now tread them down and trample upon them.'
    • 3. "They shall no longer have the face of a vineyard, and the form and shape of a church and commonwealth, but shall be levelled and laid waste.' This was fulfilled when Jerusalem for their sakes was ploughed as a field, Mic. 3:12.
    • 4. "No more pains shall be taken with them by magistrates or ministers, the dressers and keepers of their vineyard; it shall not be pruned nor digged, but every thing shall run wild, and nothing shall come up but briers and thorns, the products of sin and the curse,' Gen. 3:18. When errors and corruptions, vice and immorality, go without check or control, no testimony borne against them, no rebuke given them or restraint put upon them, the vineyard is unpruned, is not dressed, or ridded; and then it will soon be like the vineyard of the man void of understanding, all grown over with thorns.
    • 5. "That which completes its woe is that the dews of heaven shall be withheld; he that has the key of the clouds will command them that they rain no rain upon it, and that alone is sufficient to run it into a desert.' Note, God in a way of righteous judgment, denies his grace to those that have long received it in vain. The sum of all is that those who would not bring forth good fruit should bring forth none. The curse of barrenness is the punishment of the sin of barrenness, as Mk. 11:14. This had its partial accomplishment in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, its full accomplishment in the final rejection of the Jews, and has its frequent accomplishment in the departure of God's Spirit from those persons who have long resisted him and striven against him, and the removal of his gospel from those places that have been long a reproach to it, while it has been an honour to them. It is no loss to God to lay his vineyard waste; for he can, when he please, turn a wilderness into a fruitful field; and when he does thus dismantle a vineyard, it is but as he did by the garden of Eden, which, when man had by sin forfeited his place in it, was soon levelled with common soil.
  • V. The explanation of this parable, or a key to it (v. 7), where we are told,
    • 1. What is meant by the vineyard (it is the house of Israel, the body of the people, incorporated in one church and commonwealth), and what by the vines, the pleasant plants, the plants of God's pleasure, which he had been pleased in and delighted in doing good to; they are the men of Judah; these he had dealt graciously with, and from them he expected suitable returns.
    • 2. What is meant by the grapes that were expected and the wild grapes that were produces: He looked for judgment and righteousness, that the people should be honest in all their dealings and the magistrates should strictly administer justice. This might reasonably be expected among a people that had such excellent laws and rules of justice given them (Deu. 4:8); but the fact was quite otherwise; instead of judgment there was the cruelty of the oppressors, and instead of righteousness the cry of the oppressed. Every thing was carried by clamour and noise, and not by equity and according to the merits of the cause. It is sad with a people when wickedness has usurped the place of judgment, Eccl. 3:16. It is very sad with a soul when instead of the grapes of humility, meekness, patience, love, and contempt of the world, which God looks for, there are the wild grapes of pride, passion, discontent, malice, and contempt of God-instead of the grapes of praying and praising, the wild grapes of cursing and swearing, which are a great offence to God. Some of the ancients apply this to the Jews in Christ's time, among whom God looked for righteousness (that is, that they should receive and embrace Christ), but behold a cry, that cry, Crucify him, crucify him.

Isa 5:8-17

The world and the flesh are the two great enemies that we are in danger of being overpowered by; yet we are in no danger if we do not ourselves yield to them. Eagerness of the world, and indulgence of the flesh, are the two sins against which the prophet, in God's name, here denounces woes. These were sins which then abounded among the men of Judah, some of the wild grapes they brought forth (v. 4), and for which God threatens to bring ruin upon them. They are sins which we have all need to stand upon our guard against and dread the consequences of.

  • I. Here is a woe to those who set their hearts upon the wealth of the world, and place their happiness in that, and increase it to themselves by indirect and unlawful means (v. 8), who join house to house and lay field to field, till there be no place, no room for anybody to live by them. If they could succeed, they would be placed alone in the midst of the earth, would monopolize possessions and preferments, and engross all profits and employments to themselves. Not that it is a sin for those who have a house and a field, of they have wherewithal, to purchase another; but
    • 1. Their fault is,
      • (1.) That they are inordinate in their desires to enrich themselves, and make it their whole care and business to raise an estate, as if they had nothing to mind, nothing to seek, nothing to do, in this world, but that. They never know when they have enough, but the more they have the more they would have; and, like the daughters of the horseleech, they cry, Give, give. They cannot enjoy what they have, nor do good with it, but are constantly contriving and studying to make it more. They must have variety of houses, a winter-house, and a summer-house, and if another man's house or field lie convenient to theirs, as Naboth's vineyard to Ahab's, they must have that too, or they cannot be easy.
      • (2.) That they are herein careless of others, nay, and injurious to them. They would live so as to let nobody live but themselves. So that their insatiable covetings may be gratified, they care not what becomes of all about them, what encroachments they make upon their neighbours' rights, what hardships they put upon those that they have power over or advantage against, nor what base and wicked arts they use to heap up treasure to themselves. They would swell so big as to fill all space, and yet are still unsatisfied (Eccl. 5:10), as Alexander, who, when he fancied he had conquered the world, wept because he had not another world to conquer. Deficiente terrâ, non impletur avaritia-If the whole earth were monopolized, avarice would thirst for more. What! will you be placed alone in the midst of the earth? (so some read it); will you be so foolish as to desire it, when we have so much need of the service of others and so much comfort in their society? Will you be so foolish as to expect that the earth shall be forsaken for us (Job 18:4), when it is by multitudes that the earth is to be replenished? An propter vos solos tanta terra creata est?-Was the wide world created merely for you? Lyra.
    • 2. That which is threatened as the punishment of this sin is that neither the houses nor the fields they were thus greedy of should turn to any account, v. 9, 10. God whispered it to the prophet in his ear, as he speaks in a like case (ch. 22:14): It was revealed in my ears by the Lord of hosts (as God told Samuel a thing in his ear, 1 Sa. 9:15); he thought he heard it still sounding in his ears; but he proclaimed it, as he ought, upon the house-tops, Mt. 10:27.
      • (1.) That the houses they were so fond of should be untenanted, should stand long empty, and should yield them no rent, and go out of repair: Many houses shall be desolate, the people that should dwell in them, being cut off by sword, famine, or pestilence, or carried into captivity; or trade being dead, and poverty coming upon the country like an armed man, those that had been housekeepers were forced to become lodgers, or shift for themselves elsewhere. Even great and fair houses, that would invite tenants, and (there being a scarcity of tenants) might be taken at low rates, shall stand empty without inhabitants. God created not the earth in vain; he formed it to be inhabited, ch. 45:18. But men's projects are often frustrated, and what they frame answers not the intention. We have a saying, That fools build houses for wise men to live in; but sometimes, as the event proves, they are built for no man to live in. God has many ways to empty the most populous cities.
      • (2.) That the fields they were so fond of should be unfruitful (v. 10): Ten acres of vineyard shall yield only such a quantity of grapes as will make but one bath of wine (which was about eight gallons), and the seed of a homer, a bushel's sowing of ground, shall yield but an ephah, which was the tenth part of a homer; so that through the barrenness of the ground, or the unreasonableness of the weather, they should not have more than a tenth part of their seed again. Note, Those that set their hearts upon the world will justly be disappointed in their expectations from it.
  • II. Here is a woe to those that dote upon the pleasures and delights of sense, v. 11, 12. Sensuality ruins men as certainly as worldliness and oppression. As Christ pronounces a woe against those that are rich, so also against those that laugh now and are full (Lu. 6:24, 25), and fare sumptuously, Lu. 16:19. Observe,
    • 1. Who the sinners are against whom this woe is denounced.
      • (1.) They are such as are given to drink; they make their drinking their business, have their hearts upon it, and overcharge themselves with it. They rise early to follow strong drink, as husbandmen and tradesmen do to follow their employments; as if they were afraid of losing time from that which is the greatest misspending of time. Whereas commonly those that are drunken are drunken in the night, when they have despatched the business of the day, these neglect business, abandon it, and give up themselves to the service of the flesh; for they sit at their cups all day, and continue till night, till wine inflame them-inflame their lusts (chambering and wantonness follow upon rioting and drunkenness)-inflame their passions; for who but such have contentions and wounds without cause? Prov. 23:29-35. They make a perfect trade of drinking; nor do they seek the shelter of the night for this work of darkness, as men ashamed of it, but count it a pleasure to riot in the day-time. See 2 Pt. 2:13.
      • (2.) They are such as are given to mirth. They have their feasts, and they are so merrily disposed that they cannot dine or sup without music, musical instruments of all sorts, like David (Amos 6:5), like Solomon (Eccl. 2:8); the harp and the viol, the tarbet and pipe, must accompany the wine, that every sense may be gratified to a nicety; they take the timbrel and harp, Job 21:12. The use of music is lawful in itself; but when it is excessive, when we set our hearts upon it, misspend time in it, so that it crowds our spiritual and divine pleasures and draws away the heart from God, then it turns into sin for us.
      • (3.) They are such as never give their mind to any thing that is serious: They regard not the work of the Lord; they observe not his power, wisdom, and goodness, in those creatures which they abuse and subject to vanity, nor the bounty of his providence in giving them those good things which they make the food and fuel of their lusts. God's judgments have already seized them, and they are under the tokens of his displeasure, but they regard not; they consider not the hand of God in all these things; his hand is lifted up, but they will not see, because they will not disturb themselves in their pleasures nor think what God is doing with them.
    • 2. What the judgments are which are denounced against them, and in part executed. It is here foretold,
      • (1.) that they should be dislodged; the land should spue out these drunkards (v. 13): My people (so they call themselves, and were proud of it) have therefore gone into captivity, are as sure to go as if they were gone already, because they have no knowledge; how should they have knowledge when by their excessive drinking they make sots and fools of themselves? They set up for wits; but because they regard not God's controversy with them, nor take any care to make their peace with him, they may truly be said to have no knowledge; and the reason is because they will have none; they are inconsiderate and wilful, and are therefore destroyed for lack of knowledge.
      • (2.) That they should be impoverished, and come to want that which they had wasted and abused to excess: Even their glory are men of famine, subject to it and slain by it; and their multitude are dried up with thirst. Both the great men and the common people are ready to perish for want of bread and water. This is the effect of the failure of the corn (v. 10), for the king himself is served of the field, Eccl. 5:9. And when the vintage fails the drunkards are called upon to weep, because the new wine is cut off from their mouth (Joel 1:5), and not so much because now they want it as because when they had it they abused it. It is just with God to make men want that for necessity which they have abused to excess.
      • (3.) What multitudes should be cut off by famine and sword (v. 14): Therefore hell has enlarged herself. Tophet, the common burying-place, proves too little; so many are there to be buried that they shall be forced to enlarge it. The grave has opened her mouth without measure, never saying, It is enough, Prov. 30:15, 16. It may be understood of the place of the damned; luxury and sensuality fill these regions of darkness and horror; there those are tormented who made a god of their belly, Lu. 16:25; Phil. 3:19.
      • (4.) That they should be humbled and abased, and all their honours laid in the dust. This will be done effectually by death and the grave: Their glory shall descend, not only to the earth, but into it; it shall not descend after them (Ps. 49:17), to stand them in any stead on the other side death, but it shall die and be buried with them-poor glory, which will thus wither! Did they glory in their numbers? Their multitude shall go down to the pit, Eze. 31:18; 32:32. Did they glory in the figure they made? Their pomp shall be at an end; their shouts with which they triumphed, and were attended. Did they glory in their mirth? Death will turn it into mourning; he that rejoices and revels, and never knows what it is to be serious, shall go thither where there are weeping and wailing. Thus the mean man and the mighty man meet together in the grave and under mortifying judgments. Let a man be ever so high, death will bring him low-ever so mean, death will bring him lower, in the prospect of which the eyes of the lofty should now be humbled, v. 15. It becomes those to look low that must shortly be laid low.
    • 3. What the fruit of these judgments shall be.
      • (1.) God shall be glorified, v. 16. He that is the Lord of hosts, and the holy God, shall be exalted and sanctified in the judgment and righteousness of these dispensations. His justice must be owned in bringing those low what exalted themselves; and herein he is glorified,
        • [1.] As a God is irresistible power. He will herein be exalted as the Lord of hosts, that is able to break the strongest, humble the proudest, and tame the most unruly. Power is not exalted but in judgment. It is the honour of God that, though he has a mighty arm, yet judgment and justice are always the habitation of his throne, Ps. 89:13, 14.
        • [2.] As a God of unspotted purity. He that is holy, infinitely holy, shall be sanctified (that is, shall be owned and declared to be holy) in the righteous punishment of proud men. Note, When proud men are humbled the great God is honoured, and ought to be honoured by us.
      • (2.) Good people shall be relieved and succoured (v. 17): Then shall the lambs feed after their manner; the meek ones of the earth, who followed the Lamb, who were persecuted, and put into fear by those proud oppressors, shall feed quietly, feed in the green pastures, and there shall be none to make them afraid. See Eze. 34:14. When the enemies of the church are cut off then have the churches rest. They shall feed at their pleasure; so some read it. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in abundant peace. They shall feed according to their order or capacity (so others read it), as they are able to hear the word, that bread of life.
      • (3.) The country shall be laid waste, and become a prey to the neighbours: The waste places of the fats ones, the possessions of those rich men that lived at their ease, shall be eaten by strangers that were nothing akin to them. In the captivity the poor of the land were left for vine-dressers and husbandmen (2 Ki. 25:12); these were the lambs that fed in the pastures of the fats ones, which were laid in common for strangers to eat. When the church of the Jews, those fat ones, was laid waste, their privileges were transferred to the Gentiles, who had been long strangers, and the lambs of Christ's flock were welcome to them.

Isa 5:18-30

Here are,

  • I. Sins described which will bring judgments upon a people: and this perhaps is not only a charge drawn up against the men of Judah who lived at that time, and the particular articles of that charge, though it may relate primarily to them, but is rather intended for warning to all people, in all ages, to take heed of these sins, as destructive both to particular persons and to communities, and exposing men to God's wrath and his righteous judgments. Those are here said to be in a woeful condition,
    • 1. Who are eagerly set upon sin, and violent in their sinful pursuits (v. 18), who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, who take as much pains to sin as the cattle do that draw a team, who put themselves to the stretch for the gratifying of their inordinate appetites, and, to humour a base lust, offer violence to nature itself. They think themselves as sure of compassing their wicked project as if they were pulling it towards them with strong cart-ropes; but they will find themselves disappointed, for they will prove cords of vanity, which will break when they come to any stress. For the righteous Lord will cut in sunder the cords of the wicked, Ps. 129:4; Job 4:8; Prov. 22:8. They are by long custom and confirmed habits so hardened in sin that they cannot get clear of it. Those that sin through infirmity are drawn away by sin; those that sin presumptuously draw iniquity to them, in spite of the oppositions of Providence and the checks of conscience. Some by sin understand the punishment of sin: they pull God's judgments upon their own heads as it were, with cart-ropes.
    • 2. Who set the justice of God at defiance, and challenge the Almighty to do his worst (v. 19): They say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work; this is the same language with that of the scoffers of the last days, who say, Where is the promise of his coming? and therefore it is that, like them, they draw iniquity with cords of vanity, are violent and daring in sin, and walk after their own lusts, 2 Pt. 3:3, 4.
      • (1.) They ridicule the prophets, and banter them. It is in scorn that they call God the Holy One of Israel, because the prophets used with great veneration to call him so.
      • (2.) They will not believe the revelation of God's wrath from heaven against their ungodliness and unrighteousness; unless they see it executed, they will not know it, as if the curse were brutum fulmen-a mere flash, and all the threatenings of the word bugbears to frighten fools and children.
      • (3.) If God should appear against them, as he has threatened, yet they think themselves able to make their part good with him, and provoke him to jealousy, as if they were stronger than he, 1 Co. 10:22. "We have heard his word, but it is all talk; let him hasten his work, we shall shift for ourselves well enough.' Note, Those that wilfully persist in sin consider not the power of God's anger.
    • 3. Who confound and overthrow the distinctions between moral good and evil, who call evil good and moral evil (v. 20), who not only live in the omission of that which is good, but condemn it, argue against it, and, because they will not practise it themselves, run it down in others, and fasten invidious epithets upon it-not only do that which is evil, but justify it, and applaud it, and recommend it to others as safe and good. Note,
      • (1.) Virtue and piety are good, for they are light and sweet, they are pleasant and right; but sin and wickedness are evil; they are darkness, all the fruit of ignorance and mistake, and will be bitterness in the latter end.
      • (2.) Those do a great deal of wrong to God, and religion, and conscience, to their own souls, and to the souls of others, who misrepresent these, and put false colours upon them-who call drunkenness good fellowship, and covetousness good husbandry, and, when they persecute the people of God, think they do him good service-and, on the other hand, who call seriousness ill-nature, and sober singularity ill-breeding, who say all manner of evil falsely concerning the ways of godliness, and do what they can to form in men's minds prejudices against them, and this in defiance of evidence as plain and convincing as that of sense, by which we distinguish, beyond contradiction, between light and darkness, and between that which to the taste is sweet and that which is bitter.
    • 4. Who though they are guilty of such gross mistakes as these have a great opinion of their own judgments, and value themselves mightily upon their understanding (v. 21): They are wise in their own eyes; they think themselves able to disprove and baffle the reproofs and convictions of God's word, and to evade and elude both the searches and the reaches of his judgments; they think they can outwit Infinite Wisdom and countermine Providence itself. Or it may be taken more generally: God resists the proud, those particularly who are conceited of their own wisdom and lean to their own understanding; such must become fools, that they may be truly wise, or else, at their end they shall appear to be fools before all the world.
    • 5. Who glory in it as a great accomplishment that they are able to bear a great deal of strong liquor without being overcome by it (v. 22), who are mighty to drink wine, and use their strength and vigour, not in the service of their country, but in the service of their lusts. Let drunkards know from this scripture that,
      • (1.) They ungratefully abuse their bodily strength, which God has given them for good purposes, and by degrees cannot but weaken it.
      • (2.) It will not excuse them from the guilt of drunkenness that they can drink hard and yet keep their feet.
      • (3.) Those who boast of their drinking down others glory in their shame.
      • (4.) How light soever men make of their drunkenness, it is a sin which will certainly lay them open to the wrath and curse of God.
    • 6. Who, as judges, pervert justice, and go counter to all rules of equity, v. 23. This follows upon the former; they drink and forget the law (Prov. 31:5), and err through wine (ch. 28:7), and take bribes, that they may have wherewithal to maintain their luxury. They justify the wicked for reward, and find some pretence or other to clear him from his guilt and shelter him from punishment; and they condemn the innocent, and take away their righteousness from them, that is, overrule their pleas, deprive them of the means of clearing up their innocency, and give judgment against them. In causes between man and man, might and money would at any time prevail against right and justice; and he who was ever so plainly in the wrong would with a small bribe carry the cause and recover the costs. In criminal causes, though the prisoner ever so plainly appeared to be guilty, yet for a reward they would acquit him; if he were innocent, yet if he did not fee them well, nay, if they were feed by the malicious prosecutor, or if they themselves had spleen against him, they would condemn him.
  • II. The judgments described, which these sins would bring upon them. Let not those expect to live easily who live thus wickedly; for the righteous God will take vengeance, v. 24-30. Here we may observe,
    • 1. How complete this ruin will be, and how necessarily and unavoidably it will follow upon their sins. He had compared this people to a vine (v. 7), well fixed, and which, it was hoped, would be flourishing and fruitful; but the grace of God towards it was received in vain, and then the root became rottenness, being dried up from beneath, and the blossom would of course blow off as dust, as a light and worthless thing, Job 18:16. Sin weakens the strength, the root, of a people, so that they are easily rooted up; it defaces the beauty, the blossoms, of a people, and takes away the hopes of fruit. The sin of unfruitfulness is punished with the plague of unfruitfulness. Sinners make themselves as stubble and chaff, combustible matter, proper fuel to the fire of God's wrath, which then of course devours and consumes them, as the fire devours the stubble, and nobody can hinder it, or cares to hinder it. Chaff is consumed, unhelped and unpitied.
    • 2. How just the ruin will be: Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and would not have him to reign over them; and, as the law of Moses was rejected and thrown off, so the word of the Holy One of Israel by his servants the prophets, putting them in mind of his law and calling them to obedience, was despised and disregarded. God does not reject men for every transgression of his law and word; but, when his word is despised and his law cast away, what can they expect but that God should utterly abandon them?
    • 3. Whence this ruin should come (v. 25): it is destruction from the Almighty.
      • (1.) The justice of God appoints it; for that is the anger of the Lord which is kindled against his people, his necessary vindication of the honour of his holiness and authority.
      • (2.) The power of God effects it: He has stretched forth his hand against them. That hand which had many a time been stretched out for them against their enemies is now stretched out against them at full length and in its full vigour; and who knows the power of his anger? Whether they are sensible of it or no, it is God that has smitten them, has blasted their vine and made it wither.
    • 4. The consequences and continuance of this ruin. When God comes forth in wrath against a people the hills tremble, fear seizes even their great men, who are strong and high, the earth shakes under men and is ready to sink; and as this feels dreadful (what does more so than an earthquake?) so what sight can be more frightful than the carcases of men torn with dogs, or thrown as dung (so the margin reads it) in the midst of the streets? This intimates that great multitudes should be slain, not only soldiers in the field of battle, but the inhabitants of their cities put to the sword in cold blood, and that the survivors should neither have hands nor hearts to bury them. This is very dreadful, and yet such is the merit of sin that, for all this, God's anger is not turned away; that fire will burn as long as there remains any of the stubble and chaff to be fuel for it; and his hand, which he stretched forth against his people to smite them, because they do not by prayer take hold of it, nor by reformation submit themselves to it, is stretched out still.
    • 5. The instruments that should be employed in bringing this ruin upon them: it should be done by the incursions of a foreign enemy, that should lay all waste. No particular enemy is named, and therefore we are to take it as a prediction of all the several judgments of this kind which God brought upon the Jews, Sennacherib's invasion soon after, and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans first and at last by the Romans; and I think it is to be looked upon also as a threatening of the like desolation of those countries which harbour and countenance those sins mentioned in the foregoing verses; it is an exposition of those woes. When God designs the ruin of a provoking people,
      • (1.) He can send a great way off for instruments to be employed in effecting it; he can raise forces from afar, and summon them from the end of the earth to attend his service, v. 26. Those who know him not are made use of to fulfil his counsel, when, by reason of their distance, they can scarcely be supposed to have any ends of their own to serve. If God set up his standard, he can incline men's hearts to enlist themselves under it, though perhaps they know not why or wherefore. When the Lord of hosts is pleased to make a general muster of the forces he has at his command, he has a great army in an instant, Joel 2:2, 11. He needs not sound a trumpet, nor beat a drum, to give them notice or to animate them; no, he does but hiss to them, or rather whistle to them, and that is enough; they hear that, and that puts courage into them. Note, God has all the creatures at his beck.
      • (2.) He can make them come into the service with incredible expedition: Behold, they shall come with speed swiftly. Note,
        • [1.] Those who will do God's work must not loiter, must not linger, nor shall they when his time has come.
        • [2.] Those who defy God's judgments will be ashamed of their insolence when it is too late; they said scornfully (v. 19), Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, and they shall find, to their terror and confusion, that he will; in one hour has the judgment come.
      • (3.) He can carry them on in the service with amazing forwardness and fury. This is described here in very elegant and lofty expressions, v. 27-30.
        • [1.] Though their marches be very long, yet none among them shall be weary; so desirous they be to engage that they shall forget their weariness, and make no complaints of it.
        • [2.] Though the way be rough, and perhaps embarrassed by the usual policies of war, yet none among them shall stumble, but all the difficulties in their way shall easily be got over.
        • [3.] Though they be forced to keep constant watch, yet none shall slumber nor sleep, so intent shall they be upon their work, in prospect of having the plunder of the city for their pains.
        • [4.] They shall not desire any rest of relaxation; they shall not put off their clothes, nor loose the girdle of their loins, but shall always have their belts on and swords by their sides.
        • [5.] They shall not meet with the least hindrance to retard their march or oblige them to halt; not a latchet of their shoes shall be broken which they must stay to mend, as Jos. 9:13.
        • [6.] Their arms and ammunition shall all be fixed, and in good posture; their arrows sharp, to wound deep, and all their bows bent, none unstrung, for they expect to be soon in action.
        • [7.] Their horses and chariots of war shall all be fit for service; their horses so strong, so hardy, that their hoofs shall be like flint, far from being beaten, or made tender, by their long march; and the wheels of their chariots not broken, or battered, or out of repair, but swift like a whirlwind, turning round so strongly upon their axle-trees.
        • [8.] All the soldiers shall be bold and daring (v. 29): Their roaring, or shouting, before a battle, shall be like a lion, who with his roaring animates himself, and terrifies all about him. Those who would not hear the voice of God speaking to them by his prophets, but stopped their ears against their charms, shall be made to hear the voice of their enemies roaring against them and shall not be able to turn a deaf ear to it. They shall roar like the roaring of the sea in a storm; it roars and threatens to swallow up, as the lion roars and threatens to tear in pieces.
        • [9.] There shall not be the least prospect of relief or succour. The enemy shall come in like a flood, and there shall be none to lift up a standard against him. He shall seize the prey, and none shall deliver it, none shall be able to deliver it, nay, none shall so much as dare to attempt the deliverance of it, but shall give it up for lost. Let the distressed look which way they will, every thing appears dismal; for, if God frowns upon us, how can any creature smile?
          • First, Look round to the earth, to the land, to that land that used to be the land of light and the joy of the whole earth, and behold darkness and sorrow, all frightful, all mournful, nothing hopeful.
          • Secondly, Look up to heaven, and there the light is darkened, where one would expect to have found it. If the light is darkened in the heavens, how great is that darkness! If God hide his face, no marvel the heavens hide theirs and appear gloomy, Job 34:29. It is our wisdom, by keeping a good conscience, to keep all clear between us and heaven, that we may have light from above even when clouds and darkness are round about us.