Isaiah 5:8-25

Woes and Judgments

8 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.
9 The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath[a] of wine; a homer[b] of seed will yield only an ephah[c] of grain.”
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.
12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.
13 Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; those of high rank will die of hunger and the common people will be parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers.
15 So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
16 But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.
17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed[d] among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
19 to those who say, “Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel— let it approach, let it come into view, so 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 clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore the LORD’s anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

Isaiah 5:8-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 5

In this chapter, under the parable of a vineyard and its ruins, the Jews and their destruction are represented; the reasons of which are given, their manifold sins and transgressions, particularly enumerated, with the punishment threatened to them, and which is delivered in form of a song. The vineyard is described by the owner of it, a well beloved one; by the situation of it, in a fruitful hill; by the fence about it, and care and culture of it; and by its not answering the expectation of the owner, it bringing forth wild grapes instead of good ones, Isa 5:1,2 wherefore the men of Judah and Jerusalem are made judges between the owner and his vineyard, what more could have been done to it, or rather what was now to be done to it, since this was the case; and the result is, that it should be utterly laid waste, and come to ruin; and the whole is applied to the house of Israel, and men of Judah, Isa 5:3-7 whose sins, as the cause of their ruin, are mentioned in the following verses; their covetousness, with the punishment of it, Isa 5:8-10 their intemperance, luxury, and love of pleasure, with the punishment threatened thereunto, Isa 5:11-14 whereby haughty men should be humbled, the Lord be glorified, and at the same time his weak and innocent people would be taken care of, Isa 5:15-17 next, other sins are taken notice of, and woes pronounced on account of them, as, an impudent course of sinning, insolent impiety against God, confusion of good and evil, conceit of their own wisdom, drunkenness, and perversion of justice, Isa 5:18-23 wherefore for these things, and for their contempt and rejection of the law and word of the Lord, utter destruction is threatened them, Isa 5:24 yea, the anger of God had been already kindled against them, and they had felt it in some instances, Isa 5:25 but they are given to expect severer judgments, by means of foreign nations, that should be gathered against them; who are described by their swiftness, strength, and vigilance; by their armour, horses, and carriages; and by their terror and cruelty; the consequence of which would be utter darkness, distress, and calamities, in the land of Judea, Isa 5:26-30.

Cross References 56

  • 1. ver 11,18,20; Isaiah 6:5; Isaiah 10:1; Isaiah 24:16; Jeremiah 22:13
  • 2. Job 20:19; Micah 2:2; Habakkuk 2:9-12
  • 3. Jeremiah 44:11
  • 4. Isaiah 22:14
  • 5. Isaiah 6:11-12; Matthew 23:38
  • 6. S ver 6; Leviticus 26:26; S Deuteronomy 28:38; Zechariah 8:10
  • 7. S ver 8
  • 8. S 1 Samuel 25:36; S Proverbs 23:29-30
  • 9. Psalms 68:25; Isaiah 24:8
  • 10. S Job 21:12
  • 11. S 1 Samuel 12:24; Job 34:27
  • 12. Psalms 28:5; Ezekiel 26:13; Amos 6:5-6
  • 13. Isaiah 49:21; Hosea 4:6
  • 14. S Proverbs 10:21; S Isaiah 1:3; Hosea 4:6
  • 15. S Job 22:8
  • 16. S Isaiah 3:1
  • 17. S Proverbs 30:16
  • 18. S Numbers 16:30
  • 19. Isaiah 22:2,13; Isaiah 23:7; Isaiah 24:8
  • 20. Isaiah 10:33
  • 21. S Isaiah 2:9
  • 22. S Isaiah 2:11
  • 23. Psalms 97:9; Isaiah 33:10
  • 24. Isaiah 28:17; Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 33:5; Isaiah 61:8
  • 25. S Leviticus 10:3; Isaiah 29:23; Ezekiel 36:23
  • 26. Isaiah 7:25; Isaiah 17:2; Isaiah 32:14; Zephaniah 2:6,14
  • 27. S ver 8
  • 28. Hosea 11:4
  • 29. Isaiah 59:4-8; Jeremiah 23:14
  • 30. Isaiah 60:22
  • 31. S Isaiah 1:4; Isaiah 29:23; Isaiah 30:11,12
  • 32. Jeremiah 17:15; Ezekiel 12:22; 2 Peter 3:4
  • 33. S ver 8
  • 34. S Genesis 18:25; S 1 Kings 22:8
  • 35. S Psalms 94:21
  • 36. S Job 24:13; Matthew 6:22-23; Luke 11:34-35
  • 37. Amos 5:7
  • 38. S Proverbs 3:7; Isaiah 47:10; Romans 12:16; 1 Corinthians 3:18-20
  • 39. S 1 Samuel 25:36; S Proverbs 23:20; S Isaiah 22:13
  • 40. S Proverbs 31:4; Isaiah 65:11; Jeremiah 7:18
  • 41. S Exodus 23:8; S Ezekiel 22:12
  • 42. ver 7; S Isaiah 1:17; Isaiah 10:2; Isaiah 29:21; Isaiah 59:4,13-15
  • 43. S Psalms 94:21; Amos 5:12; James 5:6
  • 44. S Isaiah 1:31
  • 45. Isaiah 47:14; Nahum 1:10
  • 46. S 2 Kings 19:30; S Job 18:16
  • 47. S Job 24:24; Isaiah 40:8
  • 48. Psalms 107:11; Isaiah 8:6; Isaiah 30:9,12
  • 49. Job 6:10; Isaiah 1:4; Isaiah 10:20; Isaiah 12:6
  • 50. S 2 Kings 22:13; S Job 40:11; Isaiah 10:17; Isaiah 26:11; Isaiah 31:9; Isaiah 66:15; S Jeremiah 6:12
  • 51. S Exodus 19:18
  • 52. S Psalms 110:6
  • 53. S 2 Kings 9:37
  • 54. S 2 Samuel 22:43
  • 55. Jeremiah 4:8; Daniel 9:16
  • 56. Isa 9:12,17,21; Isaiah 10:4

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters
  • [b]. That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms
  • [c]. That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
  • [d]. Septuagint; Hebrew "/ strangers will eat"
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