Isaiah 5

Looking for a Crop of Justice

5I'll sing a ballad to the one I love, a love ballad about his vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard, a fine, well-placed vineyard.H7891H3039H7892H1730H3754H3039H3754H1121H8081H71612He hoed the soil and pulled the weeds, and planted the very best vines. He built a lookout, built a winepress, a vineyard to be proud of. He looked for a vintage yield of grapes, but for all his pains he got junk grapes.H5823H5619H5193H8321H1129H4026H8432H2672H3342H6960H6213H6025H6213H8913"Now listen to what I'm telling you, you who live in Jerusalem and Judah. What do you think is going on between me and my vineyard?H3427H3389H376H3063H8199H37544Can you think of anything I could have done to my vineyard that I didn't do? When I expected good grapes, why did I get bitter grapes?H6213H3754H6213H4069H6960H6213H6025H6213H8915"Well now, let me tell you what I'll do to my vineyard: I'll tear down its fence and let it go to ruin. I'll knock down the gate and let it be trampled.H3045H6213H3754H5493H4881H1197H6555H1447H48236I'll turn it into a patch of weeds, untended, uncared for— thistles and thorns will take over. I'll give orders to the clouds: 'Don't rain on that vineyard, ever!'"H7896H1326H2168H5737H5927H8068H7898H6680H5645H4305H43067Do you get it? The vineyard of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies is the country of Israel. All the men and women of Judah are the garden he was so proud of. He looked for a crop of justice and saw them murdering each other. He looked for a harvest of righteousness and heard only the moans of victims.H3754H3068H6635H1004H3478H376H3063H8191H5194H6960H4941H4939H6666H6818

You Who Call Evil Good and Good Evil

8Doom to you who buy up all the houses and grab all the land for yourselves— Evicting the old owners, posting NO TRESPASSING signs, Taking over the country, leaving everyone homeless and landless.H1945H5060H1004H1004H7126H7704H7704H657H4725H3427H7130H7769I overheard GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies say: "Those mighty houses will end up empty. Those extravagant estates will be deserted.H241H3068H6635H3808H7227H1004H8047H1419H2896H342710A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine, a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain."H3588H6235H6776H3754H6213H259H1324H2233H2563H6213H37411Doom to those who get up early and start drinking booze before breakfast, Who stay up all hours of the night drinking themselves into a stupor.H1945H7925H1242H7291H7941H309H5399H3196H181412They make sure their banquets are well-furnished with harps and flutes and plenty of wine, But they'll have nothing to do with the work of GOD, pay no mind to what he is doing.H3658H5035H8596H2485H3196H4960H5027H6467H3068H7200H4639H302713Therefore my people will end up in exile because they don't know the score. Their "big men" will starve to death and the common people die of thirst.H5971H1540H1847H3519H4962H7458H1995H6704H677214Sheol developed a huge appetite, swallowing people nonstop! Big people and little people alike down that gullet, to say nothing of all the drunks.H7585H7337H5315H6473H6310H2706H1926H1995H7588H5938H338115The down-and-out on a par with the high-and-mighty, Windbag boasters crumpled, flaccid as a punctured bladder.H120H7817H376H8213H5869H1364H821316But by working justice, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies will be a mountain. By working righteousness, Holy God will show what "holy" is.H3068H6635H1361H4941H410H6918H6942H666617And lambs will graze as if they owned the place, Kids and calves right at home in the ruins.H3532H7462H1699H2723H4220H1481H39818Doom to you who use lies to sell evil, who haul sin to market by the truckload,H1945H4900H5771H2256H7723H2403H5699H568819Who say, "What's God waiting for? Let him get a move on so we can see it. Whatever The Holy of Israel has cooked up, we'd like to check it out."H559H4116H2363H4639H7200H6098H6918H3478H7126H935H304520Doom to you who call evil good and good evil, Who put darkness in place of light and light in place of darkness, Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!H1945H559H7451H2896H2896H7451H7760H2822H216H216H2822H7760H4751H4966H4966H475121Doom to you who think you're so smart, who hold such a high opinion of yourselves!H1945H2450H5869H995H644022All you're good at is drinking—champion boozers who collect trophies from drinking boutsH1945H1368H8354H3196H582H2428H4537H794123And then line your pockets with bribes from the guilty while you violate the rights of the innocent.H6663H7563H6118H7810H5493H6666H666224But they won't get by with it. As fire eats stubble and dry grass goes up in smoke, Their souls will atrophy, their achievements crumble into dust, Because they said no to the revelation of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, Would have nothing to do with The Holy of Israel.H784H398H7179H3956H3852H7503H2842H8328H4716H6525H5927H80H3988H8451H3068H6635H5006H565H6918H347825That's why GOD flamed out in anger against his people, reached out and knocked them down. The mountains trembled as their dead bodies piled up in the streets. But even after that, he was still angry, his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.H639H3068H2734H5971H5186H3027H5221H2022H7264H5038H5478H7130H2351H639H7725H3027H518626He raises a flag, signaling a distant nation, whistles for people at the ends of the earth. And here they come— on the run!H5375H5251H1471H7350H8319H7097H776H935H4120H703127None drag their feet, no one stumbles, no one sleeps or dawdles. Shirts are on and pants buckled, every boot is spit-polished and tied.H5889H3782H5123H3462H232H2504H6605H8288H5275H542328Their arrows are sharp, bows strung, The hooves of their horses shod, chariot wheels greased.H2671H8150H7198H1869H5483H6541H2803H6862H1534H549229Roaring like a pride of lions, the full-throated roars of young lions, They growl and seize their prey, dragging it off—no rescue for that one!H7581H3833H7580H7580H3715H5098H270H2964H6403H533730They'll roar and roar and roar on that Day, like the roar of ocean billows. Look as long and hard as you like at that land, you'll see nothing but darkness and trouble. Every light in the sky will be blacked out by the clouds.H3117H5098H5100H3220H5027H776H2822H6862H216H2821H6183