Isaiah 5:8-25

Woe to the Wicked

8 Woe to those who 1join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.
9 The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: 2"Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 3For ten acres[a] of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a 4homer of seed shall yield but an ephah."[b]
11 Woe to those who 5rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!
12 6They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, 7but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands.
13 Therefore my people go into exile 8for lack of knowledge;[c] their 9honored men go hungry,[d] and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has 10enlarged its appetite and opened 11its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem[e] and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who 12exults in her.
15 13Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty[f] are brought low.
16 14But the LORD of hosts is exalted[g] in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze 15as in their pasture, and 16nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with 17cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: 18"Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!"
20 Woe to 19those who call evil good and good evil, 20who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are 21wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are 22heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who 23acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!
24 Therefore, 24as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so 25their root will be 26as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have 27rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have 28despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore 29the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and 30the mountains quaked; and their corpses were 31as refuse in the midst of the streets. 32For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

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 32

  • 1. Micah 2:2
  • 2. Isaiah 6:12
  • 3. [Leviticus 26:26; Haggai 1:6; Haggai 2:16]
  • 4. Ezekiel 45:11
  • 5. ver. 22; [Proverbs 23:29, 30; Ecclesiastes 10:16, 17]
  • 6. Amos 6:5, 6
  • 7. Isaiah 26:11
  • 8. Isaiah 1:3; Hosea 4:6
  • 9. [Lam. 4:2, 7, 8]
  • 10. Habakkuk 2:5
  • 11. Psalms 141:7
  • 12. [ver. 12; Job 1:18, 19]
  • 13. Isaiah 2:9
  • 14. Isaiah 2:11, 17
  • 15. Micah 2:12
  • 16. [Judges 6:3]
  • 17. Proverbs 5:22
  • 18. [Ezekiel 12:22; 2 Peter 3:4]
  • 19. [Amos 5:7]
  • 20. [Job 17:12; Matthew 6:22, 23; Luke 11:34, 35]
  • 21. Proverbs 3:7; Romans 12:16
  • 22. ver. 11
  • 23. Exodus 23:8; Proverbs 17:15
  • 24. Isaiah 47:14; Joel 2:5; [Exodus 15:7]
  • 25. Job 18:16
  • 26. Hosea 5:12
  • 27. Isaiah 30:9
  • 28. Isaiah 1:4
  • 29. 2 Kings 22:13, 17
  • 30. Jeremiah 4:24; [Psalms 97:5; Habakkuk 3:6]
  • 31. [2 Kings 9:37; Jeremiah 36:30]
  • 32. Isaiah 9:12, 17, 21; Isaiah 10:4

Footnotes 7

  • [a]. Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day
  • [b]. A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  • [c]. Or without their knowledge
  • [d]. Or die of hunger
  • [e]. Hebrew her nobility
  • [f]. Hebrew high
  • [g]. Hebrew high
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.