The Word Am I

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

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- Chapter 5 -

(Luke 13:6–9)
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.(a) (b) (c)
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.(d)
3
Now then, 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?
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.
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.
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.

Woes to the Wicked

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?
9
These things are in my ears, says the Lord of hosts. Otherwise, many houses, great and beautiful, will become desolate, without an inhabitant.
10
Then ten acres of vineyard will produce one small bottle of wine, and thirty measures of seed will produce three measures of grain.
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.
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.
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.
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.(e)
15
And man will be bowed down, and man will be humbled, and the eyes of the exalted will be brought low.
16
And the Lord of hosts will be exalted in judgment, and the holy God will be sanctified in justice.
17
And the lambs will pasture in proper order, and new arrivals will eat from the deserts turned into fertile lands.
18
Woe to you who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and who draw sin as if with the rope of a cart,
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.”
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!
21
Woe to you who are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight!
22
Woe to you who are powerful at drinking wine, who are strong men in contriving inebriation!
23
For you justify an impious man in exchange for bribes, and you carry away the justice of a just man from him.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Footnotes

(a)5:1 The word ‘patruelis’ refers to a father’s brother’s son. The phrase “in cornu filio olei” is correctly translated in the original Douai version, and also in the Wycliffe translation: “in the horn in the son of oil”. At first glace, this translation might not seem to make sense. But the word ‘horn’ was used to describe an area of land (perhaps irregularly shaped) that would be at the extremity of a larger parcel of land. It might be a raised area, since higher ground is better for growing plants (in that it drains well and warms quickly). This vineyard belonged to the father’s brother’s son, so it would have been divided to him from out of a larger parcel. So which part of the larger area of land was he given? It was a choice area, which was termed ‘the son of oil,’ in other words, the most productive part of the vineyard.(Conte)
(b)5:1 My cousin:So the prophet calls Christ, as being of his family and kindred, by descending from the house of David.(Challoner)
(c)5:1 On a hill, etc:Literally, in the horn, the son of oil.(Challoner)
(d)5:2 The word ‘labruscas’ refers not so much to wild grapes, but to wild grape vines, which would be much less productive than the domesticated vines selected and bred for productivity.(Conte)
(e)5:14 The term ‘infernus’ could also be translated in a more general way, referring to death more generally, and not necessarily to Hell.(Conte)
(Luke 13:6–9)
1
Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
2
He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in the middle of it, and also cut out a wine press in it. He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
3
“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.
4
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?
5
Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down.
6
I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned or hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.”
7
For the vineyard of the LORD of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression, for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

Woes to the Wicked

8
Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!
9
In my ears, the LORD of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied.
10
For ten acres (a) of vineyard shall yield one bath,(b) and a homer (c) of seed shall yield an ephah.”(d)
11
Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!
12
The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don’t respect the work of the LORD, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.
13
Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.
14
Therefore Sheol (e) has enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it.
15
So man is brought low, mankind is humbled, and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;
16
but the LORD of Armies is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.
17
Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.
18
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope,
19
who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”
20
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
22
Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;
23
who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!
24
Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust, because they have rejected the law of the LORD of Armies, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25
Therefore the LORD’s anger burns against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out.
26
He will lift up a banner to the nations from far away, and he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly.
27
No one shall be weary nor stumble among them; no one shall slumber nor sleep, neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the strap of their sandals be broken,
28
whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses’ hoofs will be like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.
29
Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver.
30
They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.

Footnotes

(a)5:10 literally, ten yokes, or the amount of land that ten yokes of oxen can plow in one day, which is about 10 acres or 4 hectares.
(b)5:10 1 bath is about 22 liters or 5.8 U. S. gallons
(c)5:10 1 homer is about 220 liters or 6 bushels
(d)5:10 1 ephah is about 22 liters or 0.6 bushels or about 2 pecks—only one tenth of what was sown.
(e)5:14 Sheol is the place of the dead.
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