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1Let me sing a song for the one I love, called[#5:1 It is proper, even as we honor God for his transcendence and holiness, to love him and sing about his love. Divine romance never diminishes God’s glory; it elevates and extols it. Isaiah is a singing prophet, as many prophets are. This chapter contains three prophetic songs: the Song of the Vineyard (vv. 1–7), the Song of Six Woes (vv. 8–23), and the Song of Judgment (vv. 24–30). What a variety of methods God will use to awaken his people and bring people to repentance! The prophet sings this song to the glory of his Beloved. Maybe it was sung by Isaiah at the Feast of Tabernacles when the grape harvest was brought in. Or perhaps Isaiah walked through the streets of Jerusalem or the hillsides of Israel singing to God’s people this prophetic message. Or perhaps the Lord Jesus himself sang this over Jerusalem as he stood on the hillside overlooking the city, weeping (see Luke 19:41).]
“My Lover and His Vineyard”:
My beloved planted a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2First he dug up its ground and hauled away its stones[#5:2 Israel is the vineyard of the Lord (see Jer. 2:21). The parable is an obvious picture of how God planted and loved his vineyard, Israel. He cleared it of stones, removing all that would make his people stumble (see Isa. 62:10). With the stones, he built a wall of protection around them ( 5:5). For Israel, these stones would represent the Canaanites, those inhabitants of the land who made them stumble. Then he planted and established his people, calling them the “choicest [noblest] of vines,” with everything they needed to grow and be fruitful. In John 15, God’s vineyard is described as God’s redeemed people, the church. He has removed our stony hearts and given us hearts of flesh to respond to his voice. Throughout the Gospels, we see the people of the Lord compared to a vineyard (see Matt. 20:1; 21:28–41; Mark 12:1; Luke 13:6; 20:9–16; John 15:1).]
so he could plant within it the choicest of vines.
He built a watchtower in the middle of it
and carved a winepress out of its rock.
He fully expected it to bear good grapes,
but instead it produced only worthless wild grapes.
3So now, you residents of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
you be the judges!
4What more could I have done for my vineyard?
When I expected it to bear luscious grapes,
why did it produce only wild, worthless grapes?
5So let me tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard.
I will tear down its fence and it will be plundered.
I will break down its wall and it will be destroyed!
6I will make it a wasteland, and no one will cultivate the land.[#5:6 Or “it will not be pruned or hoed.” We would become a wasteland if God were to lift his favor and blessings from our lives.]
It will grow only weeds and thorns!
I will command the clouds
and they will not drop their rain upon it!
7For Israel is this vineyard of Yahweh ,
the Commander of Angel Armies,
and the people of Judah are the garden of his delight.
When he waited for a crop of justice,
he got a harvest of bloodshed!
When he waited to reap fairness,
he heard only the cries of victims.
8Woe to those who, in their greed , buy up
house after house to make one grand estate
until there is no place for anyone else
and only the landowner is left!
9This is what Yahweh , the Commander of Angel Armies,
said in my ears:
“Truly, many of your houses will become devastated
and your large, impressive mansions
will have no one living in them!
10Indeed, even a vast vineyard[#5:10 Or “a ten-yoke vineyard,” the amount of land ten yoke of oxen could cultivate.]
will produce only a few gallons of wine,
and several bushels of seed
will produce only a bushel of harvest!”
11Woe to those who start drinking early in the morning,
lingering late into the night to get drunk with wine.
12Their lavish parties are complete with
the music of harps and flutes—and the wine flows!
Yet they have no respect for what Yahweh has done,
nor do they contemplate the work of his hands!
13Therefore, my people go into exile for lack of understanding.[#5:13 See Prov. 10:21; Isa. 1:3; Hos. 4:6.]
Their leaders are starving,
their multitudes parched with thirst.
14The shadowy realm of death grows thirsty for souls[#5:14 Or Sheol , a poetic term for the underworld.]
and opens its mouth even wider to drink in the people!
It gulps down the leaders of Jerusalem,
along with their noisy, boasting crowds!
15The people will be humiliated, all of humanity humbled,
and the arrogant will be brought low.
16With justice the Lord Yahweh ,
Commander of Angel Armies, displays his greatness,
and righteousness sets him apart as the holy God.
17Then lambs will graze, as if in their own pastures,
and the refugee will eat in the ruins of the rich.
18Woe to those who drag behind them their guilt
with ropes made of lies —
straining and tugging, harnessed to their bondage!
19They say, “May God hurry up and bring his judgment[#5:19 Or “his work,” which, in the immediate context, is his judgment.]
so that we can see it once and for all !
Let the prophetic plan of the Holy One of Israel
quickly come to pass so that we can see what it is!”
20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who replace darkness with light and light with darkness,
who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and see themselves as clever and shrewd.
22Woe to the champion wine drinkers
who are heroes in mixing strong drinks—
23judges and politicians who acquit the guilty for a bribe
and take away the rights of the innocent.
24Therefore, just as tongues of fire
lick up the straw and dry grass,
they will be destroyed, just as a plant with decaying roots
and blossoms dries up like dust and is blown away in the wind.
For they said, “No!” to the teachings of Yahweh ,
the Lord of Angel Armies,
and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel!
25For this reason Yahweh ’s anger burned against his people,[#5:25 God’s anger is a righteous anger. It is the necessary vindication of the honor of his holiness and authority. There is no reason to make an apology for God’s anger. It is not a blemish on his divine character nor inconsistent with his mercy and grace. His anger is as pure and holy and good as his mercy or his love. Everything about God is holy and perfect. See Deut. 32:39–41; Ps. 7:11–13.]
and he struck them down with his holy hand!
The mountains trembled, and dead bodies were littered
like garbage left in the streets.
Even with this, his anger has not turned away
and still his hand is heavy upon them!
26He will lift up a banner to signal the distant nations;
he whistles for them to come from the ends of the earth.
Look! Here they come, running swiftly and speedily!
27Not one warrior stumbles or grows weary—
not even stopping to rest or sleep; they are battle ready!
28Their arrows are sharpened and every bow strung.
Their horses’ hooves are hard as flint
and their chariot wheels turn like the whirlwind.
29Their shout is like a lion’s roar,
the roar of strong lions growling as they seize their prey.
They carry away captives , and none can rescue them.
30They will roar and roar on that day
like the roaring of crashing waves,
and if you look back across the land
you’ll see only darkness, disaster, and distress;
daylight itself will be obscured by thick clouds.