Isaiah 5

The Song of the Vineyard

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

²He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in the middle of it, and also cut out a wine press in it. 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.

⁴What 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?

⁵Now 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, and it will be trampled down.

⁶I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned or hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.”

⁷For the vineyard of the LORD of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression, for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

Six Woes Against Judah

⁸Woe 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 middle of the land!

⁹In my ears, the LORD of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied.

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

¹¹Woe 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!

¹²The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don’t respect the work of the LORD, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.

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

¹⁴Therefore Sheol 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.

¹⁵So man is brought low, mankind is humbled, and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;

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

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

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

¹⁹who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”

²⁰Woe 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!

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

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

²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!

²⁴Therefore 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 the LORD of Armies, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵Therefore the LORD’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 middle of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out.

The Assyrian Invasion

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

²⁷No one shall be weary nor stumble among them; no one shall slumber nor sleep, neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the strap of their sandals be broken,

²⁸whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses’ hoofs will be like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.

²⁹Their 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.

³⁰They 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.

Previous Isaiah 4

Next Isaiah 6

Isaiah presents God's case against Judah through the parable of a vineyard that produced wild grapes despite careful cultivation, representing Israel's failure to produce justice and righteousness. The prophet then pronounces six woes against specific sins plaguing Judean society, including greed, drunkenness, moral confusion, and self-righteousness. The chapter concludes with a warning of coming judgment through foreign invasion, as God will use distant nations as instruments of His wrath against His rebellious people.

Context

Following the messianic vision of chapters 2-4, this chapter returns to immediate judgment themes, setting up the temple vision and Isaiah's commission in chapter 6.

Key Themes

Outline

1-7
The Song of the Vineyard A parable comparing Israel to an unfruitful vineyard that will face destruction for producing oppression instead of justice.
8-10
First and Second Woes: Greed and Land Grabbing Condemnation of those who accumulate property at others' expense, with promised judgment of desolation and crop failure.
11-17
Third Woe: Drunkenness and Spiritual Blindness Warning against those consumed with drinking and pleasure who ignore God's work, leading to captivity and humiliation.
18-19
Fourth Woe: Defiant Sinfulness Judgment on those who deliberately pursue wickedness and mockingly challenge God to act.
20-21
Fifth and Sixth Woes: Moral Confusion and Pride Condemnation of those who pervert moral standards and trust in their own wisdom rather than God's.
22-30
Final Woe and Coming Invasion Warning against corrupt leaders and announcement of God's judgment through a distant, powerful enemy nation.

The Song of the Vineyard

5:1–5:7

prophecy parable-telling mournful

Isaiah presents God's parable of the vineyard, where Israel is depicted as an unfruitful vineyard that will face judgment. Despite God's careful cultivation, the people produced injustice instead of justice and oppression instead of righteousness.

structural

Isaiah's vineyard parable employs a Hebrew wordplay between "mishpat" (justice) and "mispach" (bloodshed), and "tsedaqah" (righteousness) and "tse'aqah" (cry of distress) to emphasize Israel's moral inversion.

Six Woes Against Judah

5:8–5:25

prophecy rebuke wrathful

Isaiah pronounces six woes against various sins including greed, drunkenness, moral confusion, and pride. The passage warns of coming judgment and exile for those who reject God's ways and pursue wickedness.

theme_rarity

Isaiah's six woes uniquely interweave condemnations of economic exploitation with spiritual rebellion, making this one of only four biblical passages where themes of sin and wealth converge so systematically.

The Assyrian Invasion

5:26–5:30

prophecy

Isaiah describes God summoning a distant nation as His instrument of judgment, depicting their swift and unstoppable military advance. The passage emphasizes God's sovereign control over nations and His use of foreign powers to execute judgment.

structural

Isaiah's military imagery transforms God from passive judge to active battlefield commander who "whistles" (שָׁרַק) for distant armies like a shepherd calling sheep, uniquely depicting divine sovereignty through pastoral metaphors.

Insight Literary Structure

Insight Rare Theme

Insight Literary Structure

Cross-References

Connected passages across Scripture

Isaiah 5:2 3 references

Lexicals 3

2 Chronicles 26:10 Lexical

He built towers in the wilderness, and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the…

Isaiah 5

The Song of the Vineyard

Six Woes Against Judah

The Assyrian Invasion

The Song of the Vineyard

Six Woes Against Judah

The Assyrian Invasion

Insights

Cross-References

Isaiah 5:2 3 references

Isaiah 5:5 1 reference

Isaiah 5:6 5 references

Isaiah 5:7 1 reference

Isaiah 5:10 3 references

Isaiah 5:12 3 references

Isaiah 5:18 2 references

Isaiah 5:19 1 reference

Isaiah 5:20 1 reference

Isaiah 5:22 5 references

Isaiah 5:23 5 references

Isaiah 5:24 4 references

Isaiah 5:25 2 references

Isaiah 5:27 3 references

Isaiah 5:28 5 references

Isaiah 5:29 5 references

Interlinear

Historical Context