Isaiah 5:7-17

7 Forsooth the vinery of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah be the delightable burgeoning of him. I abode, that it shall make doom, and lo! wickedness; and that it should do rightfulness, and lo! cry. (And the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah be his delightful burgeoning. I waited for them to yield justice, but lo! wickedness; and that they should do righteousness, or do what is right, but lo! cries of distress/cries for justice.)
8 Woe to you that join house to house, and couple field to field, till to the end of (the) place. Whether ye alone shall dwell in the midst of the land? (Woe to you who join house to house, and couple field to field, until the end of the place. Shall ye live alone in the midst of the land, with no room for anyone else?)
9 These things be in the ears of me, (yea,) the Lord of hosts (hath said); If many houses be not forsaken, great and fair, without dweller (If many houses be not abandoned, yea, large and beautiful, but with no inhabitants), believe ye not to me.
10 For why ten acres of vines shall make one pottle, and thirty bushels of seed shall make three bushels.
11 Woe to you that rise altogether early to follow drunkenness, and to drink till to eventide, that ye burn with wine. (Woe to you who rise up early to follow drunkenness, and drink until the evening, so that ye burn with wine.)
12 Harp, and gittern, and tympan, and pipe, and wine be in your feasts; and ye behold not the work of the Lord, neither ye behold the works of his hands. (Harp, and lute, and drum, or tambourine, and pipe, and wine be at your feasts; but ye do not see the work of the Lord, nor do ye see the works of his hands.)
13 Therefore my people is led captive, either prisoner, for it had not knowing; and the noblemen thereof perished in hunger, and the multitude thereof was dry in thirst. (And so my people be led away as prisoners, for they had no knowledge, or no understanding; and their noble people perished from hunger, and their multitude were dry with thirst.)
14 Therefore hell hath alarged his soul, and opened his mouth without any end (And so hell hath enlarged itself, and opened its mouth wide); and the strong men thereof, and the people thereof, and the high men (thereof), and the glorious men thereof, shall go down (in)to it.
15 And a man shall be bowed down, and a man of age shall be made low; and the eyes of high men shall be pressed down.
16 And the Lord of hosts shall be enhanced in doom, and [the] holy God shall be hallowed in rightfulness. (And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgement, and the Holy God shall be consecrated in righteousness.)
17 And lambs shall be fed by their order, and comelings shall eat (of the) desert places turned into plenty.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.