7 Because the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts `Is' the house of Israel, And the man of Judah His pleasant plant, And He waiteth for judgment, and lo, oppression, For righteousness, and lo, a cry.
A vine out of Egypt Thou dost bring, Thou dost cast out nations, and plantest it. Thou hast looked before it, and dost root it, And it filleth the land, Covered have been hills `with' its shadow, And its boughs `are' cedars of God. It sendeth forth its branches unto the sea, And unto the river its sucklings.
The Lord also hath scabbed The crown of the head of daughters of Zion, And Jehovah their simplicity exposeth.
Little children, let no one lead you astray; he who is doing the righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous, he who is doing the sin, of the devil he is, because from the beginning the devil doth sin; for this was the Son of God manifested, that he may break up the works of the devil;
lo, the reward of the workmen, of those who in-gathered your fields, which hath been fraudulently kept back by you -- doth cry out, and the exclamations of those who did reap into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth have entered;
but ye -- ye do injustice, and ye defraud, and these -- brethren! have ye not known that the unrighteous the reign of God shall not inherit? be not led astray; neither whoremongers, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, the reign of God shall inherit. And certain of you were these! but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were declared righteous, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
and shall not God execute the justice to His choice ones, who are crying unto Him day and night -- bearing long in regard to them?
`Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye give tithe of the mint, and the dill, and the cumin, and did neglect the weightier things of the Law -- the judgment, and the kindness, and the faith; these it behoved `you' to do, and those not to neglect.
bear, therefore, fruits worthy of the reformation, and do not think to say in yourselves, A father we have -- Abraham, for I say to you, that God is able out of these stones to raise children to Abraham, and now also, the axe unto the root of the trees is laid, every tree therefore not bearing good fruit is hewn down, and to fire is cast.
`Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: True judgment judge ye, And kindness and mercy do one with another. And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart. And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing. And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts. And it cometh to pass, as He called, And they have not hearkened, So do they call, and I do not hearken, Said Jehovah of Hosts. And I toss them on all the nations, That they have not known, The land hath been desolate behind them, Of any passing by and turning back, And they set a desirable land for a desolation!
Jehovah thy God `is' in thy midst, A mighty one doth save, He rejoiceth over thee with joy, He doth work in His love, He joyeth over thee with singing.'
Many shepherds did destroy My vineyard, They have trodden down My portion, They have made My desirable portion Become a wilderness -- a desolation.
For a young man doth marry a virgin, Thy Builders do marry thee, With the joy of a bridegroom over a bride, Rejoice over thee doth thy God.
Is not this the fast that I chose -- To loose the bands of wickedness, To shake off the burdens of the yoke, And to send out the oppressed free, And every yoke ye draw off? Is it not to deal to the hungry thy bread, And the mourning poor bring home, That thou seest the naked and cover him, And from thine own flesh hide not thyself? Then broken up as the dawn is thy light, And thy health in haste springeth up, Gone before thee hath thy righteousness, The honour of Jehovah doth gather thee.
And he fenceth it, and casteth out its stones, And planteth it `with' a choice vine, And buildeth a tower in its midst, And also a wine press hath hewn out in it, And he waiteth for the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones!
And He saith, `What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood is crying unto Me from the ground;
From the sole of the foot -- unto the head, There is no soundness in it, Wound, and bruise, and fresh smiting! They have not been closed nor bound, Nor have they softened with ointment.
How fair and how pleasant hast thou been, O love, in delights.
For Jehovah is pleased with His people, He beautifieth the humble with salvation.
Jehovah is pleased with those fearing Him, With those waiting for His kindness.
To cause to come in unto Him The cry of the poor, And the cry of the afflicted He heareth.
If against me my land doth cry out, And together its furrows weep, If its strength I consumed without money, And the life of its possessors, I have caused to breathe out,
And there is a great cry of the people and their wives, concerning their brethren the Jews, yea, there are who are saying, `Our sons, and our daughters, we -- are many, and we receive corn, and eat, and live.' And there are who are saying, `Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, we are pledging, and we receive corn for the famine.' And there are who are saying, `We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, `on' our fields, and our vineyards; and now, as the flesh of our brethren `is' our flesh, as their sons `are' our sons, and lo, we are subduing our sons and our daughters for servants, and there are of our daughters subdued, and our hand hath no might, and our fields and our vineyards `are' to others.'
`Take heed to thee lest there be a word in thy heart -- worthless, saying, Near `is' the seventh year, the year of release; and thine eye is evil against thy needy brother, and thou dost not give to him, and he hath called concerning thee unto Jehovah, and it hath been in thee sin;
`And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, nor crush him, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt. `Any widow or orphan ye do not afflict; if thou dost really afflict him, surely if he at all cry unto Me, I certainly hear his cry; and Mine anger hath burned, and I have slain you by the sword, and your wives have been widows, and your sons orphans. `If thou dost lend My poor people with thee money, thou art not to him as a usurer; thou dost not lay on him usury; if thou dost at all take in pledge the garment of thy neighbour, during the going in of the sun thou dost return it to him: for it alone is his covering, it `is' his garment for his skin; wherein doth he lie down? and it hath come to pass, when he doth cry unto Me, that I have heard, for I `am' gracious.
And it cometh to pass during these many days, that the king of Egypt dieth, and the sons of Israel sigh because of the service, and cry, and their cry goeth up unto God, because of the service; and God heareth their groaning, and God remembereth His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 5
Commentary on Isaiah 5 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 5
In this chapter the prophet, in God's name, shows the people of God their transgressions, even the house of Jacob their sins, and the judgments which were likely to be brought upon them for their sins,
Isa 5:1-7
See what variety of methods the great God takes to awaken sinners to repentance by convincing them of sin, and showing them their misery and danger by reason of it. To this purport he speaks sometimes in plain terms and sometimes in parables, sometimes in prose and sometimes in verse, as here. "We have tried to reason with you (ch. 1:18); now let us put your case into a poem, inscribed to the honour of my well beloved.' God the Father dictates it to the honour of Christ his well beloved Son, whom he has constituted Lord of the vineyard. The prophet sings it to the honour of Christ too, for he is his well beloved. The Old-Testament prophets were friends of the bridegroom. Christ is God's beloved Son and our beloved Saviour. Whatever is said or sung of the church must be intended to his praise, even that which (like this) tends to our shame. This parable was put into a song that it might be the more moving and affecting, might be the more easily learned and exactly remembered, and the better transmitted to posterity; and it is an exposition of he song of Moses (Deu. 32), showing that what he then foretold was now fulfilled. Jerome says, Christ the well-beloved did in effect sing this mournful song when he beheld Jerusalem and wept over it (Lu. 19:41), and had reference to it in the parable of the vineyard (Mt. 21:33, etc.), only here the fault was in the vines, there in the husbandmen. Here we have,
Isa 5:8-17
The world and the flesh are the two great enemies that we are in danger of being overpowered by; yet we are in no danger if we do not ourselves yield to them. Eagerness of the world, and indulgence of the flesh, are the two sins against which the prophet, in God's name, here denounces woes. These were sins which then abounded among the men of Judah, some of the wild grapes they brought forth (v. 4), and for which God threatens to bring ruin upon them. They are sins which we have all need to stand upon our guard against and dread the consequences of.
Isa 5:18-30
Here are,