The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

Now I will sing to my Beloved a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard: My Beloved has a vineyard in a fruitful horn.

And He dug it, and cleared it of stones, and planted it [with] the choicest vine, and built a tower in its midst, and also hewed out a wine vat in it. And He waited [for it] to produce grapes, but it produced rotten grapes.

And now, O people of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I ask you, judge between Me and My vineyard.

What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Who knows? I waited [for it] to yield grapes, but it yielded rotten grapes.

And now I will make known to you what I will do then to My vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be burned. I will breach its wall, and it will become a trampling ground.

And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but briers and thorns shall come up. And I will command the clouds from raining rain on it.

For the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the man of Judah [is] His delightful plant. And He waited for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry!

Woe [to] those touching house to house, bringing near field to field until the end of space, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!

Jehovah of Hosts [has sworn] in my ears, If not, many houses shall be a waste, big and beautiful [ones] without inhabitant.

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

Woe to those who rise early in the morning to go after fermented drink, tarrying in the twilight [while] wine inflames them!

And the lyre and the harp, the timbrel and flute, and wine are [at] their feasts; but they do not regard the work of Jehovah; yea, they do not see the work of His hands.

For this My people go into exile without knowledge, and his men of glory into famine; and his multitude is parched with thirst.

So Sheol has enlarged its appetite, and opened its mouth without measure, and her glory and her multitude, and her uproar, he who exults in her, shall come down in it.

And man is bowed down, and man is humbled, and the eyes of the proud are humbled.

But Jehovah of Hosts is exalted in judgment, and God the Holy One is proven holy in righteousness.

Then the lambs shall feed as in their pasture, and strangers shall eat the waste places of the fatlings.

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as with ropes of a cart;

who say, Let Him hurry [and] hasten His work, so that we may see; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, so that we may know!

Woe to those who say to evil, good; and to good, evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those wise in their own eyes, and discerning in their own sight!

Woe to those mighty to drink wine, and brave men to mix fermented drink;

who justify the wicked for a bribe, and turn aside the righteousness of the righteous from him!

So, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and the flame burns up the chaff; their root shall be like rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up like dust, because they have cast away the law of Jehovah of Hosts; and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

On account of this the anger of Jehovah is kindled on His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them, and has struck them; and the mountains quaked, and their dead bodies [were] as filth in the midst of the streets. In all this His anger does not turn away, but His hand is stretched out still.

And He will lift up a banner to distant nations, and will hiss to them from the ends of the earth; and, behold, it shall come [with] swift speed!

None [shall be] weary nor stumble among them; none will slumber nor sleep; nor shall the waist cloth of their loins be opened, nor the thong of their sandals broken;

whose arrows [are] sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hooves shall appear as flint, and their wheels like a hurricane.

Their roaring [shall be] like a lion; they shall roar like young lions. Yea, they roar and seize the prey, and carry [it] away; and no one shall deliver.