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The Song of the Vineyard
Isaiah 5.1-7
Good News Translation (GNT)
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1 Listen while I sing you this song, a song of my
friend and his vineyard: My friend had a
vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug the soil and cleared it of stones;
he planted the finest vines. He built a tower to
guard them, dug a pit for treading the grapes.
He waited for the grapes to ripen, but every
grape was sour.
3 So now my friend says, "You people who live
in Jerusalem and Judah, judge between my
vineyard and me.
4 Is there anything I failed to do for it?
Then why did it produce sour grapes and not
the good grapes I expected?
5 "Here is what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away the hedge around it, break
down the wall that protects it, and let wild
animals eat it and trample it down.
6 I will let it be overgrown with weeds. I will not
trim the vines or hoe the ground; instead, I will
let briers and thorns cover it. I will even forbid
the clouds to let rain fall on it."
7 Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty;
the people of Judah are the vines he planted.
He expected them to do what was good, but
instead they committed murder.
He expected them to do what was right, but
their victims cried out for justice.
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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by the
Scripture Union
'The relationship between God
and his people'
Isaiah 5.1-7
Isaiah introduces himself
as the singer of a love song
that turns into a lament.
Because vine and vineyard
frequently represent God's people
throughout Scripture,
we are already familiar
with what must have been a shocking
and surprising twist.
God has done all he could
for his beloved vineyard:
found the best location,
laboriously cleared away the stones,
planted the best type of vine,
and built a watchtower in it.
But after two years,
there is no fruit,
and the singer,
appealing to the audience,
declares God's judgement
and gives the interpretation.
It is all about Israel,
the very people who are listening.
How are we to share God's love and sadness?
The love song celebrating
a marriage becomes a bitter taunt
of judgement and the promise of exile.
Few passages in the Bible
combine so poignantly
the beauty of a love song
with sorrow over sin.
Isaiah has rich resources
of memory and history to draw on.
Israel felt specially called,
prepared and protected by God.
She had been promised a
covenant relationship with Abraham,
brought out of slavery in Egypt by Moses,
and prepared for
entry into the Promised Land by Joshua.
Under David, her kingdom
had been established in the land of Canaan,
and she had enjoyed prosperity and blessing.
Now, in eighth-century Judah,
the threat of Assyria looms,
and the Holy One of Israel
stands in judgement
tempered by sadness over Israel's sin.
Her neglect of the poor,
her hypocrisy in religion
her lack of true justice and righteousness
mean that her very purity and promise,
as the beloved partner
of the Holy One of Israel,
is at risk.
How might we express God's heart
for our churches and nations today?
What can be done?
As with Israel, so with us today.
Other versions are available here
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