Isaiah 5:8-30

Woes for the Wicked

8 Woe to those who ¹add house to house and join field to field, Until there is no more room, So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!

9 In my ears the LORD of hosts has sworn, "Surely *, ²many houses shall become ³desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants.

10 "For ⁴ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, And a ⁵homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain."

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue ⁶strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!

12 Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and ⁷harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they ⁸do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

13 Therefore My people go into exile for their ⁹lack of knowledge; And their ¹⁰honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.

14 Therefore ¹¹Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem's splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.

15 So the common man will be humbled and the man of importance abased, ¹²The eyes of the proud also will be abased.

16 But the ¹³LORD of hosts will be ¹⁴exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself ¹⁵holy in righteousness.

17 ¹⁶Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy.

18 Woe to those who drag ¹⁷iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;

19 ¹⁸Who say, "Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!"

20 Woe to those who ¹⁹call evil good, and good evil; Who ²⁰substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe to those who are ²¹wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight *!

22 ²²Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,

23 ²³Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And ²⁴take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

24 Therefore, ²⁵as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their ²⁶root will become ²⁷like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; For they have ²⁸rejected the law of the LORD of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 On this account the ²⁹anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down. And the ³⁰mountains quaked, and their ³¹corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. ³²For all this His anger is not spent, But His ³³hand is still stretched out.

26 He will also lift up a ³⁴standard to the distant nation, And will ³⁵whistle for it ³⁶from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will ³⁷come with speed swiftly.

27 ³⁸No one in it is weary or stumbles, None slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the ³⁹belt at its waist undone, Nor its sandal strap broken.

28 ⁴⁰Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot ⁴¹wheels like a whirlwind.

29 Its ⁴²roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it ⁴³seizes the prey And carries it off with ⁴⁴no one to deliver it.

30 And it will ⁴⁵growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one ⁴⁶looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.

Isaiah 5:8-30 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

• 1. Jeremiah 22:13-17; Micah 2:2; Habakkuk 2:9-12
• 2. Isaiah 6:11, 12
• 3. Matthew 23:38
• 4. Leviticus 26:26; Isaiah 7:23; Haggai 1:6; Haggai 2:16
• 5. Ezekiel 45:11
• 6. Proverbs 23:29, 30; Ecclesiastes 10:16, 17; Isaiah 5:22; Isaiah 22:13; Isaiah 28:1, 3, 7, 8
• 7. Amos 6:5, 6
• 8. Job 34:27; Psalms 28:5
• 9. Isaiah 1:3; Isaiah 27:11; Hosea 4:6
• 10. Isaiah 3:3
• 11. Proverbs 30:16; Habakkuk 2:5
• 12. Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 10:33
• 13. Isaiah 28:17; Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 61:8
• 14. Isaiah 2:11, 17; Isaiah 33:5, 10
• 15. Isaiah 8:13; Isaiah 29:23; 1 Peter 3:15
• 16. Isaiah 7:25; Micah 2:12; Zephaniah 2:6
• 17. Isaiah 59:4-8; Jeremiah 23:10-14
• 18. Ezekiel 12:22; 2 Peter 3:4
• 19. Proverbs 17:15; Amos 5:7
• 20. Job 17:12; Matthew 6:22, 23; Luke 11:34, 35
• 21. Proverbs 3:7; Romans 12:16; 1 Corinthians 3:18-20
• 22. Proverbs 23:20; Isaiah 5:11; Isaiah 56:12; Habakkuk 2:15
• 23. Exodus 23:8; Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 10:1, 2; Micah 3:11; Micah 7:3
• 24. Psalms 94:21; James 5:6
• 25. Isaiah 9:18, 19; Joel 2:5
• 26. Job 18:16
• 27. Hosea 5:12
• 28. Isaiah 8:6; Isaiah 30:9, 12; Acts 13:41
• 29. 2 Kings 22:13, 17; Isaiah 66:15
• 30. Psalms 18:7; Isaiah 64:3; Jeremiah 4:24; Nahum 1:5
• 31. 2 Kings 9:37; Isaiah 14:19; Jeremiah 16:4
• 32. Is 9:12, 17, 19, 21; Isaiah 10:4; Jeremiah 4:8; Daniel 9:16
• 33. Exodus 7:19; Isaiah 23:11
• 34. Isaiah 13:2, 3
• 35. Isaiah 7:18; Zechariah 10:8
• 36. Deuteronomy 28:49
• 37. Isaiah 13:4, 5
• 38. Joel 2:7, 8
• 39. Job 12:18
• 40. Psalms 7:12, 13; Psalms 45:5; Isaiah 13:18
• 41. Isaiah 21:1; Jeremiah 4:13
• 42. Jeremiah 51:38; Zephaniah 3:3; Zechariah 11:3
• 43. Isaiah 10:6; Isaiah 49:24, 25; Micah 5:8
• 44. Isaiah 42:22
• 45. Isaiah 17:12; Jeremiah 6:23; Luke 21:25
• 46. Isaiah 8:22; Jeremiah 4:23-28; Joel 2:10; Luke 21:25, 26

Footnotes

• [a]. I.e. Approx 10 1/2 gal.
• [b]. I.e. Approx one bu
• [c]. Lit "their glory are men of famine"
• [d]. Or "appetite"
• [e]. Lit "her"
• [f]. Lit "the fat"
• [g]. Or "worthlessness"
• [h]. Lit "set"
• [i]. Lit "set"
• [j]. Lit "righteousness"
• [k]. Lit "ascend"
• [l]. Lit "were"
• [m]. Lit "has not turned away"
• [n]. Lit "nations;" probably Assyria
• [o]. Lit "Which, its arrows"
• [p]. Lit "are regarded as"