1
I will sing a song about my beloved, a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
2
He dug it and cleared away its stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in its midst and dug out a winepress there; then he waited for it to yield good grapes, but it yielded sour grapes.
3
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard.
4
What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done for it? I waited for it to yield good grapes; why did it yield only sour grapes?
5
And now I will tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
6
I will make it a wasteland; it will not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns will grow up there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
7
For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant He delighted in; He looked for justice, but there was oppression; He looked for righteousness, but there was a cry of distress.
8
Woe to those who join house to house and add field to field, until there is no room left for anyone else, and you alone dwell in the land!
9
In my ears the word of the LORD of hosts sounded: “Surely many houses shall become desolate; large and fine houses will be without inhabitants.”
10
For ten acres of vineyard shall yield only one bath of wine, and a homer of seed shall yield only one ephah of grain.
11
Woe to those who rise early in the morning to pursue strong drink, who stay up late into the night, until wine inflames them!
12
Lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine are at their feasts, but they do not regard the work of the LORD, nor see the work of His hands.
13
Therefore my people go into exile for lack of understanding; their honored men are famished, and the multitude is parched with thirst.
14
Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens its mouth without measure; and down into it go the splendor and the noise of Jerusalem, her revelry and all who rejoice in her.
15
So mankind will be brought low, and people will be humbled; yes, the proud will be brought low.
16
But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
17
Then the lambs will feed there as in their own pasture, and the goats will graze among the ruins of the rich.
18
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin as with cart ropes,
19
who say, “Let Him hurry, let Him hasten His work, so that we may see it; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, so 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 at drinking wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;
23
who justify the wicked for a bribe, and deprive the righteous of justice.
24
Therefore, as a tongue of fire devours stubble, and as dry grass sinks away in the flame, so their root will become rotten, and their blossom will blow away like dust, because they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25
Therefore the anger of the LORD is kindled against His people; He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them; the mountains will tremble, and their dead bodies will be like refuse in the middle of the streets. In all this His anger is not turned away, and His hand is still stretched out.
26
He will lift up a banner to a nation far away, and will whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, they will come swiftly, quickly!
27
None among them is weary or stumbles; none slumbers or sleeps; not a belt is loosened at the waist, nor a sandal strap broken;
28
their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are bent; their horses’ hoofs are like flint, and their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
29
Their roar is like a lioness; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey, and carry it off, and no one can deliver it.
30
In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the earth, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its clouds!
🍇⚖️🔥 Summary of Isaiah 5 – The Lord’s Vineyard and Woe upon a Stubborn Nation
Isaiah 5 contains “The Song of the Vineyard”, a beautiful yet tragic parable: the Lord has poured out all His love upon Israel, but the result is not justice, but oppression. This chapter then records six cries of “Woe!”, reflecting God’s anger against social and moral sins that continue without repentance. This is a stern warning to a people who keep rejecting the call of God’s love.
📌 1. The Song of the Vineyard (verses 1–7)
“What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done for it?” – Isa. 5:4
- The Lord is pictured as the owner of the vineyard who has provided everything needed for growth
- Yet the vineyard (Israel/Judah) instead produced sour fruit — a symbol of sin and injustice
- The Lord will tear down the protective hedge, allowing the vineyard to be ruined
🎯 When God’s love and patience are continually ignored, judgment becomes fitting and just.
📌 2. Six “Woes!” against the Nation’s Sin (verses 8–23)
- Woe to land-grabbing greed – (verses 8–10)
➤ They add house to house, ignoring others
🎯 Greed ignores social justice. - Woe to drunken feasting – (verses 11–12)
➤ The nation is too busy enjoying itself to know the Lord
🎯 Entertainment becomes an idol that blinds the heart to God. - Woe to sin that is dragged along – (verses 18–19)
➤ They mock the Lord, daring Him to punish them
🎯 Sin that is long cherished becomes a spiritual snare. - Woe to those who call evil good – (verse 20)
➤ Moral inversion: darkness becomes light, bitter becomes sweet
🎯 Moral relativism invites the wrath of God. - Woe to the wise in their own eyes – (verse 21)
➤ Intellectual and spiritual pride
🎯 Wisdom without the fear of the Lord is only folly. - Woe to injustice and bribery – (verses 22–23)
➤ The leaders are strong in feasting, but weak in righteousness
🎯 A corrupt legal system destroys a nation’s foundation.
📌 3. Divine Punishment and the Outstretched Hand of God (verses 24–30)
“Therefore, as a tongue of fire devours stubble… their root will become rotten…”
- The Lord will raise up a foreign nation (Assyria/Babylon) to punish Israel
- No one can escape the wrath of God; even creation itself trembles
- The picture of the Lord’s wrath is very terrible and solemn
🎯 If a nation rejects the voice of love, then the Lord will speak through shaking judgment.
📖 Main Teaching
- The Lord has given everything for His people — the response should be the fruit of justice
- Moral and social corruption will reap judgment
- Sin that is boasted of, justified, and normalized is a sign of a nation’s end
- God desires justice, steadfast love, and repentance — not merely religious ceremony
- Woe is determined not by an outside enemy, but by corruption from within
✨ Spiritual Meaning (New Testament)
“I am the true vine… Every branch that does not bear fruit He cuts off…”
“Whatever a person sows, that also will he reap.”
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
“By their fruit you will know them.”
🎯 Christ calls us to be fruitful branches — not merely religious, but producing the fruit of righteousness in real life.
🕊️ “He looked for it to yield good grapes, but it yielded sour grapes.” – Isaiah 5:2
🕊️ “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.” – Isaiah 5:20
🕊️ “His hand is still stretched out.” – Isaiah 5:25
