Isaiah 5 - Meaning, Themes & Application

" Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: "

" And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. "

" And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. "

Isaiah 5:3 means God is asking the people to honestly judge whether He has treated them well or unfairly. Like a gardener who cared for …

" What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? "

Isaiah 5:4 means God had lovingly given His people everything they needed to live rightly, but they still chose wrong. It’s like a gardener doing …

" And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: "

" And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain "

" For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. "

" Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! "

Isaiah 5:8 warns people who keep grabbing more land, wealth, or property with no concern for others. God condemns greed that pushes the poor aside …

" In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. "

Isaiah 5:9 means God is warning that people’s beautiful houses will be left empty because they ignored Him and acted selfishly. It shows that wealth …

" Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. "

Isaiah 5:10 means that because people ignored God and lived selfishly, their hard work would produce almost nothing. Huge fields and vineyards would give tiny …

" Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame "

Isaiah 5:11 warns people who plan their days around alcohol and pleasure instead of God. It’s not condemning all drinking, but living for it. The …

" And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. "

" Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. "

" Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend "

" And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: "

" But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. "

" Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. "

" Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: "

Isaiah 5:18 warns people who keep pulling sin into their lives, like dragging a heavy cart with ropes. It means stubbornly choosing wrong, even when …

" That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know "

Isaiah 5:19 warns about people who mock God by demanding He act immediately to prove Himself. They treat God like He must perform on their …

" Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! "

Isaiah 5:20 warns people who twist right and wrong, acting like sin is harmless and godly living is foolish. It means God strongly opposes calling …

" Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! "

Isaiah 5:21 warns people who think they’re smarter than everyone else, including God. It means pride blinds us and leads to bad choices. Instead of …

" Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: "

Isaiah 5:22 warns people who brag about how much alcohol they can handle and use drinking as a way to show off. God is saying …

" Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous "

Isaiah 5:23 warns about leaders and people who twist justice—defending wrongdoers for money or advantage while punishing or silencing those who do right. It means …

" Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. "

" Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out "

" And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: "

" None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: "

" Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: "

Isaiah 5:28 pictures an army that is fully prepared, fast, and unstoppable. It warns that ignoring God and living however we want can lead to …

" Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver "

" And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens "