The Holy Bible Isaiah 5.1-30 by Robert Alter Lyrics
Let me sing to My beloved
the song of my lover for his vineyard.
A vineyard my beloved had
on a hillside rich in soil.
And he hoed it and took off its stones,
and planted it with choice vines.
And he built a tower in its midset,
and a winepress, too, he hewed in it.
And he hoped to get grapes
but it put forth rotten fruit.
And, now, O dweller of Jerusalem
and man of Judah,
Judge, pray, between Me
and My vineyard.
What more could be done for My vineyard
that I did not do?
Why did I hope to get grapes
and it put forth rotten fruit?
And now, let Me inform you, pray,
what I am about to do to My vineyard:
take away its hedge, and it shall turn to waste,
break down its fence, and it shall be trampled
And I will make it a wild field,
and it shall not be pruned nor raked,
and thorn and thistle shall spring up.
And I will charge the clouds
not to rain on it.
For the House of Israel is the vineyard of the LORD of Armies
and the men of Judah are His delightful planting.
He hoped for justice, and, look, jaundice,
for righteousness, and, look, wretchedness.
Woe, who add house to house,
who put field together with field
till there is no space left
and you alone are settled, in the heart of the land.
In the hearing of the LORD of Armies:
I swear, many houses shall turn to ruin,
great and good ones with none living in them.
For ten acres of vineyard shall yield a single bat,
and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.
Woe, who rise in the morning early
to chase after strong drink,
who linger in twilight,
enflamed by wine.
Whose banquets are lyre and lute, timbrel and flute, and wine
and who do not regard the LORD's deeds,
and the work of his hands do not see.
Therefore is My people exiled
for lack of knowledge,
its honored men victims of famine
and its masses parched with thirst.
Therefore Sheol has widened its gullet
and gaped open its mouth beyond measure,
and her splendor and her hubbub have gone down,
her noise and her revelers.
And humans are bowed low and man brought down
and the eyes of the haughty are brought down.
And the LORD of Armies shall be raised up in justice
and the Holy One hallowed in righteousness.
And sheep shall graze as in their meadows
and goats shall feed in the ruins of the fatted.
Woe, who haul crime with the cords of falseness
and likes the ropes of the cart, offense.
Who say: "Let Him hurry, let Him hasten His deed,
that we may see,
and let the counsel of the Israel's Holy One
draw near and come that we may see."
Woe, who say "good" to evil
and "evil" to good,
who turn darkness into light
and light into darkness,
turn bitter into sweet
and sweet into bitter.
Woe, wise in their own eyes
and in their own opinion discerning
Woe, mighty to drink wine
and men of valor to mix strong drink,
Who declare the wicked innocent because of bribes
and righteous men's just cause deny.
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and hay falls apart in flame,
their root shall be like rot
and their flower go up like dust.
For they have spurned the teaching of the LORD of Armies,
and the utterance of Israel's Holy One they despised.
the song of my lover for his vineyard.
A vineyard my beloved had
on a hillside rich in soil.
And he hoed it and took off its stones,
and planted it with choice vines.
And he built a tower in its midset,
and a winepress, too, he hewed in it.
And he hoped to get grapes
but it put forth rotten fruit.
And, now, O dweller of Jerusalem
and man of Judah,
Judge, pray, between Me
and My vineyard.
What more could be done for My vineyard
that I did not do?
Why did I hope to get grapes
and it put forth rotten fruit?
And now, let Me inform you, pray,
what I am about to do to My vineyard:
take away its hedge, and it shall turn to waste,
break down its fence, and it shall be trampled
And I will make it a wild field,
and it shall not be pruned nor raked,
and thorn and thistle shall spring up.
And I will charge the clouds
not to rain on it.
For the House of Israel is the vineyard of the LORD of Armies
and the men of Judah are His delightful planting.
He hoped for justice, and, look, jaundice,
for righteousness, and, look, wretchedness.
Woe, who add house to house,
who put field together with field
till there is no space left
and you alone are settled, in the heart of the land.
In the hearing of the LORD of Armies:
I swear, many houses shall turn to ruin,
great and good ones with none living in them.
For ten acres of vineyard shall yield a single bat,
and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.
Woe, who rise in the morning early
to chase after strong drink,
who linger in twilight,
enflamed by wine.
Whose banquets are lyre and lute, timbrel and flute, and wine
and who do not regard the LORD's deeds,
and the work of his hands do not see.
Therefore is My people exiled
for lack of knowledge,
its honored men victims of famine
and its masses parched with thirst.
Therefore Sheol has widened its gullet
and gaped open its mouth beyond measure,
and her splendor and her hubbub have gone down,
her noise and her revelers.
And humans are bowed low and man brought down
and the eyes of the haughty are brought down.
And the LORD of Armies shall be raised up in justice
and the Holy One hallowed in righteousness.
And sheep shall graze as in their meadows
and goats shall feed in the ruins of the fatted.
Woe, who haul crime with the cords of falseness
and likes the ropes of the cart, offense.
Who say: "Let Him hurry, let Him hasten His deed,
that we may see,
and let the counsel of the Israel's Holy One
draw near and come that we may see."
Woe, who say "good" to evil
and "evil" to good,
who turn darkness into light
and light into darkness,
turn bitter into sweet
and sweet into bitter.
Woe, wise in their own eyes
and in their own opinion discerning
Woe, mighty to drink wine
and men of valor to mix strong drink,
Who declare the wicked innocent because of bribes
and righteous men's just cause deny.
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and hay falls apart in flame,
their root shall be like rot
and their flower go up like dust.
For they have spurned the teaching of the LORD of Armies,
and the utterance of Israel's Holy One they despised.