Isaiah 5:1-7
Chapter 5
The Song of the Vineyard
Let me sing for my beloved my love song about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.He dug it up, cleared the stones, and planted the choicest vines. He built there a watchtower and hewed out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only wild grapes.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do that I have not done for my vineyard? Good grapes were the yield I expected. Why did it yield only sour grapes?
Now I will let you know what I am going to do with my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be burned; I will break down its wall and it will be trampled on.
I will make it a wasteland, I will neither prune nor hoe it, and briers and thorns will grow there. I command the clouds, as well, not to send rain on it.
The vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth is the people of Israel; and the people of Judah are his pleasant vine. He looked for justice, but found bloodshed. He looked for righteousness but heard cries of distress.
Commentaries
The Song of the Vineyard.
This parable illustrates God’s love through all that he did for his people. However, contrary to his expectations, instead of justice and righteousness, he harvests murder and lamentation (7). It is a wedding song that symbolizes the groom’s hope for his bride, represented by the vineyard (cf. Song 8:12). The Lord appears at the end as a frustrated lover (cf. Hos 10:1; Jr 2:21; 5:10; 6:9; Ez 15:1-8; 17:3-10; 19:10-14).