Isaías 5

VBL · Chapter 5/66

1Permítanme cantar una canción para mi amor, sobre su viñedo. Mi amor tenía una viña en una colina fértil.

2La cavó, limpió el suelo de piedras y la plantó con las mejores vides. En medio de ella construyó una torre de vigilancia, y también excavó un lagar a partir de la roca. Luego esperó una buena cosecha de uvas, pero sólo produjo uvas silvestres y agrias.

3“Ahora, ustedes que viven en Jerusalén y en Judá, por favor, juzguen entre mi viña y yo.

4¿Qué más podía hacer por mi viña de lo que ya he hecho? Cuando buscaba uvas dulces, ¿por qué sólo produjo uvas agrias?

5“Así que déjenme decirles lo que voy a hacer con mi viña. Quitaré su seto y será destruida. Derribaré su muro, y será pisoteada.

6La convertiré en un lugar desierto. No se podará ni se cortará más la hierba en ella: quedará cubierta de zarzas y espinas. Ordenaré a las nubes que no llueva sobre ella”.

7Israel es la viña del Señor Todopoderoso, y el pueblo de Judá son las plantas de su jardín que lo hacen feliz. Sin embargo, mientras esperaba justicia, sólo veía injusticia; esperaba que la gente viviera bien, pero sólo escuchaba los gritos de los que sufrían.

8La tragedia se acerca a ti, que compras casa sobre casa y campo sobre campo, acumulándolos hasta que nadie tenga dónde vivir y tú puedas vivir solo en la tierra.

9Oí al Señor Todopoderoso declarar: Puedes estar seguro de que muchas casas están destinadas a convertirse en ruinas, y hermosas mansiones destinadas a quedar deshabitadas.

10Diez acres de viña sólo producirán seis galones de vino, y una medida de semilla sólo la décima parte en grano.

11La tragedia llega a ustedes que se levantan temprano por la mañana con ganas de beber, y que se quedan hasta tarde bebiendo vino hasta emborracharse.

12En sus fiestas ustedes tienen liras y arpas, panderetas y flautas, y vino, pero nunca consideran lo que hace el Señor, y no reconocen su ayuda.

13Como resultado, mi pueblo será desterrado por su falta de entendimiento. Sus honorables líderes morirán de hambre, y las multitudes se morirán de sed.

14El apetito de la tumba aumenta, su boca se abre de par en par, y la nobleza de Jerusalén y las masas bajarán a ella, junto con las turbas alborotadas y borrachas.

15Todos serán abatidos, todos serán humillados; los orgullosos bajarán sus ojos en señal de humillación.

16Pero el Señor Todopoderoso será reivindicado porque hace lo que es justo; el Dios santo se mostrará santo por su bondad.

17Los corderos pastarán como en su propio pasto; el ganado cebado y las cabras se alimentarán entre las ruinas de los ricos.

18Viene la tragedia para ustedes, que arrastran sus pecados detrás de la iniquidad con cuerdas hechas de mentiras, y tiran con cuerdas de la maldad.

19Ustedes son de los que dicen: “¡Dios debería darse prisa! ¿Por qué Dios no se apresura con lo que está haciendo para que podamos verlo? ¿Por qué el Santo de Israel no ejecuta su plan? Veamos lo que sucede para poder entender de qué se trata”.

20La tragedia está llegando a ustedes que dicen que el mal es bueno, y el bien es malo; que convierten las tinieblas en luz y la luz en tinieblas; que hacen de lo amargo algo dulce, y de lo dulce algo amargo.

21La tragedia viene a ustedes que son sabios en sus propios ojos y se creen muy inteligentes.

22La tragedia viene para ustedes, que son campeones en el consumo de vino, y expertos en mezclar bebidas alcohólicas;

23ustedes que liberan al culpable por un soborno, y sin embargo niegan la justicia al inocente.

24Así como el fuego quema los rastrojos y la hierba seca cae en las llamas, así sus raíces se descompondrán y sus flores se desintegrarán en polvo. Porque han rechazado la ley del Señor Todopoderoso, y han tratado con desprecio lo que el Santo de Israel ha dicho.

25Por eso el Señor arde de ira contra su pueblo. Ha levantado su mano y los ha golpeado, sacudiendo las montañas y dejando sus cadáveres tirados como basura en las calles. A pesar de todo esto, su cólera no ha terminado, y su mano sigue levantada.

26Enviará una señal a las naciones lejanas y silbará a los que viven en los confines de la tierra. Mira qué rápido responden, qué rápido vienen.

27Ninguno de ellos se cansa ni tropieza; ninguno descansa ni duerme. Ningún cinturón se afloja, y ninguna correa de sandalia se rompe.

28Sus flechas ya están afiladas, y todos sus arcos han sido ensartados. Los cascos de sus caballos son duros como el pedernal; las ruedas de sus carros giran como un torbellino.

29Rugen como leones, como jóvenes leones. Gruñen y se abalanzan sobre su presa. La arrastran para que no pueda ser rescatada.

30En ese momento rugirán sobre su presa como el rugido del mar. Cualquiera que mire hacia la tierra sólo verá oscuridad y angustia; incluso la luz del sol se verá oscurecida por las nubes.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Isaiah sings the 'song of the vineyard': God cared for Israel the way a farmer cares for his vineyard, but it produced only wild grapes (injustice). A series of six 'woes' (warnings of disaster) follows, aimed at greed, drunkenness, the reversal of moral values, and corruption in the courts.

Explanation

The parable of the vineyard was a farming image very familiar to the people of Judah, whose economy depended on vineyards on the hillsides around Jerusalem. God is the owner who did everything right — fenced it, cleared the stones, built a tower and a winepress — but the vineyard (the people) disappointed him. The six 'woes' that follow spell out specific sins: hoarding land at the expense of the poor, drunkenness, calling evil good, intellectual arrogance, and bribery in the courts. The practical application is remembering that privileges received from God (gifts, opportunities, resources) come with the expectation that we bear good fruit, not just the appearance of religion.

Fun facts

  • 'The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel' (v.7) is one of the most direct explanations of a parable in the whole Old Testament — the text itself hands over the meaning of the image.
  • Jesus will use an almost identical parable about a vineyard centuries later (Matthew 21:33-41), showing how this image became a classic of biblical tradition.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 5:1The song of the vineyard is a full parable, sung as if it were a love song. The owner plants, fences, builds a tower and a winepress, invests everything, and the vineyard only produces wild grapes—a poetic device to prepare the listener before revealing who this vineyard really is.
  2. Isaías 5:2It details the owner's care for the vineyard: he cleared the stones, planted excellent vines, built a watchtower and a winepress for treading the grapes—a complete investment, which makes the outcome of wild grapes all the more disappointing.
  3. Isaías 5:3The owner turns to his own listeners, the residents of Jerusalem and Judah, and asks them to judge the case between him and his vineyard—a rhetorical device that pulls the audience into the story before revealing who the vineyard is.
  4. Isaías 5:4A rhetorical question: what more could I have done for my vineyard? It reinforces that the failure was not the owner's lack of care, but something wrong with the vineyard itself.
  5. Isaías 5:5The announcement of punishment: the owner will remove the hedge and break down the wall, leaving the vineyard exposed to be trampled and destroyed—the end of the protection it once had.
  6. Isaías 5:6The punishment continues: the vineyard becomes a wasteland, unpruned and untilled, overtaken by briers, and even the clouds are commanded not to rain on it—total abandonment, with even the weather cooperating in the ruin.
  7. Isaías 5:7At the end of the poem the metaphor explains itself: the vineyard is the house of Israel, and the bad fruit is the social injustice that appeared where justice was expected. The text itself provides the key, leaving nothing open to interpretation.
  8. Isaías 5:8First in a series of "woe" oracles: against those who join house to house and field to field until there is no room left for anyone else—a criticism of the greed for land that pushes out small landowners.
  9. Isaías 5:9In response to this greed, the LORD promises that these very large houses will end up empty, without inhabitants—the irony of accumulating properties that end up deserted.
  10. Isaías 5:10An acre was the area a yoke of oxen could plow in a day, and bath, ephah, and homer were measures of volume for wine and grain. The verse describes a huge plot of land producing almost nothing, an ancient way of announcing a catastrophic crop failure.
  11. Isaías 5:11Second "woe": against those who rise early in the morning chasing drink and stay drunk until night—a criticism of addiction that consumes a person's entire day.
  12. Isaías 5:12It continues: harps, tambourines, and wine at their feasts, but no attention at all to the works of the LORD—the problem is not the feast itself, it is the complete distraction from spiritual life.
  13. Isaías 5:13The consequence: the people go into captivity for lack of understanding, and hunger and thirst strike both nobles and common people alike—the price of spiritual and social negligence.
  14. Isaías 5:14An image of the grave opening its mouth wide to swallow Jerusalem's noisy, partying crowd—the revelry described earlier ends up literally in the pit.
  15. Isaías 5:15It repeats the theme of humiliation: common people and nobles brought equally low, the haughty eyes humbled—the same pattern already seen in chapter 2.
  16. Isaías 5:16In contrast to human humiliation, it is the LORD who is exalted through righteous judgment—the same logic as chapter 1, that God's justice is what remains standing in the end.
  17. Isaías 5:17After the devastation, an almost pastoral image: lambs grazing as usual and strangers eating in places once rich and now ruined—the land of the powerful becomes common pasture.
  18. Isaías 5:18Third "woe": against those who "draw iniquity with cords of vanity," like someone dragging their own sin behind them for pleasure, going ever deeper, like a cart driver hauling a heavy load.
  19. Isaías 5:19It continues: these are people who mock God, daring Him to "make speed, and hasten his work" so they can see it for themselves—an ironic challenge to divine patience.
  20. Isaías 5:20Fourth "woe": against those who invert moral values, calling evil good and good evil, trading darkness for light and sweet for bitter—moral corruption scrambles the basic concepts of right and wrong.
  21. Isaías 5:21Fifth "woe": against those who consider themselves wise in their own eyes, trusting their own judgment far too much, with no room for anyone to correct them.
  22. Isaías 5:22Sixth "woe": against those who are "mighty" only at drinking, valiant only at mixing strong drink—irony over pouring all one's strength into something so useless.
  23. Isaías 5:23It explains the more serious problem behind the drunkenness: these are the same people who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deny justice to the truly innocent.
  24. Isaías 5:24The final consequence, pictured as fire: just as the flame consumes dry straw, this people's root will rot and their blossom will go up like dust—the reason is clear, they rejected the law of the LORD.
  25. Isaías 5:25It describes God's anger already in action: mountains tremble, bodies are left lying in the streets like garbage, and even so the anger does not subside—His hand is still stretched out, the punishment is not yet finished.
  26. Isaías 5:26Raising a banner and hissing for a distant nation is an image of summoning an army from far away—in the chapter's context, Assyria. The idea is that this nation comes quickly and without hesitation, almost as if called by a whistle.
  27. Isaías 5:27It describes the army summoned in the previous verse as unstoppable: no one grows weary, no one stumbles, no one sleeps, not a belt comes loose nor a sandal strap breaks—a disciplined, unstoppable force.
  28. Isaías 5:28It continues the description: sharp arrows, bent bows, horses' hooves as hard as flint, and chariot wheels spinning like a whirlwind—pure attacking power, coming fast.
  29. Isaías 5:29This army's roar is compared to a lion seizing its prey and carrying it off with no one able to rescue it—the victim will have no one to help.
  30. Isaías 5:30The chapter ends with a threatening sound like the roaring sea, and a final scene of darkness and distress, where even the light goes out over the devastated land.

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