HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 978
IS A IA H 5
3
4
5
6
the fruit of the land will be the pride
and glory
of all who survive in Israel.
All who remain in Zion
will be a holy people—
those who survive the destruction of
Jerusalem
and are recorded among the living.
The Lord will wash the filth from
beautiful Zion*
and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains
with the hot breath of fiery judgment.
Then the Lord will provide shade for
Mount Zion
and all who assemble there.
He will provide a canopy of cloud during
the day
and smoke and flaming fire at night,
covering the glorious land.
It will be a shelter from daytime heat
and a hiding place from storms and rain.
A Song about the LORD’s Vineyard
1 Now I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a rich and fertile hill.
2 He plowed the land, cleared its stones,
and planted it with the best vines.
In the middle he built a watchtower
and carved a winepress in the nearby
rocks.
Then he waited for a harvest of sweet
grapes,
but the grapes that grew were bitter.
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Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah,
you judge between me and my vineyard.
What more could I have done for my
vineyard
that I have not already done?
When I expected sweet grapes,
why did my vineyard give me bitter
grapes?
Now let me tell you
what I will do to my vineyard:
I will tear down its hedges
and let it be destroyed.
I will break down its walls
and let the animals trample it.
I will make it a wild place
where the vines are not pruned and the
ground is not hoed,
a place overgrown with briers and thorns.
I will command the clouds
to drop no rain on it.
The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the
Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
The people of Judah are his pleasant
garden.
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He expected a crop of justice,
but instead he found oppression.
He expected to find righteousness,
but instead he heard cries of violence.
Judah’s Guilt and Judgment
8 What sorrow for you who buy up house
after house and field after field,
until everyone is evicted and you live
alone in the land.
9 But I have heard the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
swear a solemn oath:
“Many houses will stand deserted;
even beautiful mansions will be empty.
10 Ten acres* of vineyard will not produce
even six gallons* of wine.
Ten baskets of seed will yield only one
basket* of grain.”
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What sorrow for those who get up early in
the morning
looking for a drink of alcohol
and spend long evenings drinking wine
to make themselves flaming drunk.
They furnish wine and lovely music at their
grand parties—
lyre and harp, tambourine and flute—
but they never think about the Lord
or notice what he is doing.
So my people will go into exile far away
because they do not know me.
Those who are great and honored will
starve,
and the common people will die of thirst.
The grave* is licking its lips in anticipation,
opening its mouth wide.
The great and the lowly
and all the drunken mob will be
swallowed up.
Humanity will be destroyed, and people
brought down;
even the arrogant will lower their eyes
in humiliation.
But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will be
exalted by his justice.
The holiness of God will be displayed
by his righteousness.
In that day lambs will find good pastures,
and fattened sheep and young goats*
will feed among the ruins.
What sorrow for those who drag their sins
behind them
with ropes made of lies,
who drag wickedness behind them like
a cart!
4:4 Or from the women of Zion; Hebrew reads from the
daughters of Zion. 5:10a Hebrew A ten yoke, that is,
the area of land plowed by ten teams of oxen in one day.
5:10b Hebrew a bath [21 liters]. 5:10c Hebrew A homer
[5 bushels or 220 liters] of seed will yield only an ephah
[20 quarts or 22 liters]. 5:14 Hebrew Sheol. 5:17 As in
Greek version; Hebrew reads and strangers.