Isaiah 5

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my paternal cousin, about his vineyard. A vineyard was made for my beloved, at the horn in the son of oil.	1 Let me now sing of my friend, my friend's song concerning his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside;
2 And he fenced it in, and he picked the stones out of it, and he planted it with the best vines, and he built a tower in the middle of it, and he set up a winepress within it. And he expected it to produce grapes, but it produced wild vines.	2 He spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; Within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press. Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes.
3 Now then, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah: judge between me and my vineyard.	3 Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard:
4 What more should I have done for my vineyard that I did not do for it? Should I not have expected it to produce grapes, though it produced wild vines?	4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done? Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, I will reveal to you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its fence, and it will be plundered. I will pull down its wall, and it will be trampled.	5 Now, I will let you know what I mean to do to my vineyard: Take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall, let it be trampled!
6 And I will make it desolate. It will not be pruned, and it will not be dug. And briers and thorns will rise up. And I will command the clouds not to rain upon it.	6 Yes, I will make it a ruin: it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers; I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And the man of Judah is his delightful seedling. And I expected that he would do judgment, and behold iniquity, and that he would do justice, and behold an outcry.	7 The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his cherished plant; He looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed! for justice, but hark, the outcry!
8 Woe to you who join house to house, and who combine field to field, even to the limits of the place! Do you intend to live alone in the midst of the earth?	8 Woe to you who join house to house, who connect field with field, Till no room remains, and you are left to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
9 These things are in my ears, says the Lord of hosts. Otherwise, many houses, great and beautiful, will become desolate, without an inhabitant.	9 In my hearing the LORD of hosts has sworn: Many houses shall be in ruins, large ones and fine, with no one to live in them.
10 Then ten acres of vineyard will produce one small bottle of wine, and thirty measures of seed will produce three measures of grain.	10 Ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one liquid measure, And a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.
11 Woe to you who rise up in the morning to pursue drunkenness, and to drink even until evening, so as to be inflamed with wine.	11 Woe to those who demand strong drink as soon as they rise in the morning, And linger into the night while wine inflames them!
12 Harp and lyre and timbrel and pipe, as well as wine, are at your feasts. But you do not respect the work of the Lord, nor do you consider the works of his hands.	12 With harp and lyre, timbrel and flute, they feast on wine; But what the LORD does, they regard not, the work of his hands they see not.
13 Because of this, my people have been led away as captives, for they did not have knowledge, and their nobles have passed away from famine, and their multitudes have dried up from thirst.	13 Therefore my people go into exile, because they do not understand; Their nobles die of hunger, and their masses are parched with thirst.
14 For this reason, Hell has expanded its soul, and has opened its mouth without any limits. And their strong ones, and their people, and their exalted and glorious ones will descend into it.	14 Therefore the nether world enlarges its throat and opens its maw without limit; Down go their nobility and their masses, their throngs and their revelry.
15 And man will be bowed down, and man will be humbled, and the eyes of the exalted will be brought low.	15 Men shall be abased, each one brought low, and the eyes of the haughty lowered,
16 And the Lord of hosts will be exalted in judgment, and the holy God will be sanctified in justice.	16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted by his judgment, and God the Holy shall be shown holy by his justice.
17 And the lambs will pasture in proper order, and new arrivals will eat from the deserts turned into fertile lands.	17 Lambs shall graze there at pasture, and kids shall eat in the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to you who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and who draw sin as if with the rope of a cart,	18 Woe to those who tug at guilt with cords of perversity, and at sin as if with cart ropes!
19 and who say: “Let him hurry, and let his work arrive soon, so that we may see it. And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach and arrive, so that we may know it.”	19 To those who say, "Let him make haste and speed his work, that we may see it; On with the plan of the Holy One of Israel! let it come to pass, that we may know it!"
20 Woe to you who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light, and light for darkness; who exchange bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!	20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who change darkness into light, and light into darkness, who change bitter into sweet, and sweet into bitter!
21 Woe to you who are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight!	21 Woe to those who are wise in their own sight, and prudent in their own esteem!
22 Woe to you who are powerful at drinking wine, who are strong men in contriving inebriation!	22 Woe to the champions at drinking wine, the valiant at mixing strong drink!
23 For you justify an impious man in exchange for bribes, and you carry away the justice of a just man from him.	23 To those who acquit the guilty for bribes, and deprive the just man of his rights!
24 Because of this, as the tongue of fire devours stubble, and as the heat of a flame burns it completely, so will their root become like glowing embers, and so will their offshoot ascend like dust. For they have cast aside the law of the Lord of hosts, and they have blasphemed the eloquence of the Holy One of Israel.	24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire licks up stubble, as dry grass shrivels in the flame, Even so their root shall become rotten and their blossom scatter like dust; For they have spurned the law of the LORD of hosts, and scorned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 For this reason, the fury of the Lord has been enraged against his people, and he has extended his hand over them, and he has struck them. And the mountains were disturbed. And their carcasses became like dung in the midst of the streets. After all this, his fury was not turned away; instead, his hand was still extended.	25 Therefore the wrath of the LORD blazes against his people, he raises his hand to strike them; When the mountains quake, their corpses shall be like refuse in the streets. For all this, his wrath is not turned back, and his hand is still outstretched.
26 And he will lift up a sign to nations far away, and he will whistle to them from the ends of the earth. And behold, they will rush forward speedily.	26 He will give a signal to a far-off nation, and whistle to them from the ends of the earth; speedily and promptly will they come.
27 There is no one weak or struggling among them. They will not become drowsy, and they will not sleep. Neither will the belt around their waist be loosened, nor the laces of their boots be broken.	27 None of them will stumble with weariness, none will slumber and none will sleep. None will have his waist belt loose, nor the thong of his sandal broken.
28 Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are taut. The hoofs of their horses are like flint, and their wheels are like the force of a tempest.	28 Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs of their horses seem like flint, and their chariot wheels like the hurricane.
29 Their roaring is like the lion; they will roar like young lions. They will both roar and seize their prey. And they will wrap themselves around it, and there will be no one who can rescue it.	29 Their roar is that of the lion, like the lion's whelps they roar; They growl and seize the prey, they carry it off and none will rescue it.
30 And in that day, they will make a noise over it, like the sound of the sea. We will gaze out toward the land, and behold, the darkness of the tribulation, and even the light has been darkened by its gloom.	30 (They will roar over it, on that day, with a roaring like that of the sea.)