Sharper Iron — The Fifth Evangelist – Isaiah 5:1-30: A Vineyard Full of Wild Grapes

³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
⁴ What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
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 its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;^[a]
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 briers and thorns shall grow up;
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
    are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;^[b]
for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry!^[c]

¹¹ Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
¹² They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
    or see the work of his hands.

¹³ Therefore my people go into exile
    for lack of knowledge;^[f]
their honored men go hungry,^[g]
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
    and opened its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem^[h] and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who exults in her.
¹⁵ Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty^[i] are brought low.
¹⁶ But the Lord of hosts is exalted^[j] in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
¹⁷ Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,
    and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

¹⁸ Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
¹⁹ who say: “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 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 shrewd in their own sight!
²² Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

²⁴ Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will be as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
    and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵ Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

²⁶ He will raise a signal for nations far away,
    and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
²⁷ None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
²⁸ their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses’ hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels like the whirlwind.
²⁹ Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and none can rescue.
³⁰ They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
    behold, darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.