Study Desk

Let me sing now for my beloved A song of my beloved about His vineyard. My beloved had a ^(C1)vineyard on ^(F1)a fertile hill.

He dug it all around, cleared it of stones, And planted it with ^(F1)the ^(C1)choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it, And also carved out a ^(F2)wine vat in it; Then He ^(C2)expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only ^(F3)worthless ones.

"And now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, ^(C1)Judge between Me and My vineyard.

-"^(C1)What more was there to do for My vineyard ^(F1)that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce ^(F2)worthless ones?

-"So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will ^(C1)remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will ^(C2)break down its wall and it will become ^(C3)trampled ground.

-"I will ^(C1)lay it waste; It will not be pruned nor hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also command the clouds not to ^(C2)rain on it."

For the ^(C1)vineyard of the LORD of armies is the house of Israel, And the people of Judah are His delightful plant. So He waited for justice, but behold, there was ^(C2)bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

Woe to those who ^(C1)attach house to house and join field to field, Until there is no more room, And you alone are a landowner in the midst of the land!

In my ears the LORD of armies has sworn, "^(C1)Many houses shall certainly become ^(C2)desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants.

-"For ^(C1)ten acres of vineyard will yield only one ^(F1)bath of wine, And a ^(F2)(C2)homer of seed will yield only an ^(F3)ephah of grain."

Woe to those who rise early in the morning so that they may pursue ^(C1)intoxicating drink, Who stay up late in the evening so that wine may inflame them!

Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and ^(C1)harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they ^(C2)do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

Therefore My people go into exile for their ^(C1)lack of knowledge; And their ^(F1)(C2)nobles are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.

Therefore ^(C1)Sheol has enlarged its ^(F1)throat and opened its mouth beyond measure; And ^(F2)Jerusalem's splendor, her multitude, her noise of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it.

So the common people will be humbled and the person of importance brought low, ^(C1)The eyes of the haughty also will be brought low.

But the ^(C1)LORD of armies will be ^(C2)exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself ^(C3)holy in righteousness.

^(C1)Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the ruins of the ^(F1)wealthy.

Woe to those who drag ^(C1)wrongdoing with the cords of ^(F1)deceit, And sin as if with cart ropes;

^(C1)Who say, "Let Him hurry, let Him do His work quickly, so that we may see it; And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach And come to pass, so that we may know it!"

Woe to those who ^(C1)call evil good, and good evil; Who ^(F1)(C2)substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who ^(F1)substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are ^(C1)wise in their own eyes And ^(F1)clever in their own sight!

^(C1)Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink,

^(C1)Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe, And ^(C2)take away the ^(F1)rights of the ones who are in the right!

Therefore, ^(C1)as a tongue of fire consumes stubble, And dry grass collapses in the flame, So their ^(C2)root will become ^(C3)like rot, and their blossom ^(F1)blow away like dust; For they have ^(C4)rejected the Law of the LORD of armies, And discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.

For this reason the ^(C1)anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them. And the ^(C2)mountains quaked, and their ^(C3)corpses ^(F1)lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. ^(C4)Despite all this, His anger ^(F2)is not spent, But His ^(C5)hand is still stretched out.

He will also lift up a ^(C1)flag to the distant ^(F1)nation, And ^(C2)whistle for it ^(C3)from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will ^(C4)come with speed swiftly.

^(C1)No one in it is tired or stumbles, No one slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the ^(C2)undergarment at his waist loosened, Nor his sandal strap broken.

^(F1)(C1)Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses ^(F2)seem like flint, and its chariot ^(C2)wheels like a storm wind.

Its ^(C1)roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it ^(C2)seizes the prey And carries it off with ^(C3)no one to save it.

And it will ^(C1)roar against it on that day like the roaring of the sea. If one ^(C2)looks across to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.

In the year of ^(C1)King Uzziah's death ^(C2)I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.

Seraphim were standing above Him, ^(C1)each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew.

And one called out to another and said, "^(C1)Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of armies. The ^(F1)(C2)whole earth is full of His glory."

And the ^(F1)foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the ^(F2)(C1)temple was filling with smoke.

Then I said, "^(C1)Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of ^(C2)unclean lips, And I live among a ^(C3)people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the ^(C4)King, the LORD of armies."

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the ^(C1)altar with tongs.

He ^(C1)touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and ^(C2)your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin."

Then I heard the ^(C1)voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then ^(C2)I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on ^(C1)listening, but do not understand; And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.'

-"^(C1)Make the hearts of this people ^(F1)(C2)insensitive, Their ears ^(F2)dull, And their eyes ^(F3)blind, ^(C3)So that they will not see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed."

Then I said, "Lord, ^(C1)how long?" And He answered, "Until ^(C2)cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,

The LORD has ^(C1)completely removed people, And there ^(F1)are many ^(C2)forsaken places in the midst of the land.

-"Yet there will still be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an ^(C1)oak Whose stump remains when it is cut down. The ^(C2)holy seed is its stump."

Now it came about in the days of ^(C1)Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that ^(C2)Rezin the king of Aram and ^(C3)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but ^(C4)could not ^(F1)conquer it.

When it was reported to the ^(C1)house of David, saying, "The Arameans ^(C2)have taken a stand by ^(C3)Ephraim," his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake from the wind.

Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son ^(F1)Shear-jashub, at the end of the ^(C1)conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the ^(F2)fuller's field,

and say to him, 'Take care and be ^(C1)calm, have no ^(C2)fear and ^(C3)do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering ^(C4)logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the ^(C5)son of Remaliah.

'Because ^(C1)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,

"Let's go up against Judah and ^(F1)terrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,"

this is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD says: "^(C1)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.

"For the head of Aram is ^(C1)Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people),

and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. ^(C1)If you will not believe, you certainly shall not ^(F1)last."'"

Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

"Ask for a ^(C1)sign for yourself from the LORD your God; ^(F1)make it deep as Sheol or high as ^(F2)heaven."

But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I put the LORD to the test!"

Then he said, "Listen now, ^(C1)house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to ^(F1)try the patience of men, that you will ^(F2)(C2)try the patience of ^(C3)my God as well?

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, ^(C1)the ^(F1)virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him ^(F2)(C2)Immanuel.

"He will eat ^(F1)(C1)curds and honey ^(F2)at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.

"^(C1)For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, ^(C2)the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.

"The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house such days as have not come since the day that ^(C1)Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the ^(C2)king of Assyria."

On that day the LORD will ^(C1)whistle for the fly that is in the ^(F1)(C2)remotest part of the canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

They will all come and settle on the steep ^(F1)ravines, on the ^(C1)ledges of the cliffs, ^(C2)on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.

On that day the Lord will ^(C1)shave with a ^(C2)razor, ^(C3)hired from regions beyond ^(C4)the Euphrates River (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

Now on that day a person may keep alive only a ^(C1)heifer and a pair of sheep;

and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat ^(F1)curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat ^(F1)(C1)curds and honey.

And it will come about on that day, ^(C1)that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become ^(C2)briars and thorns.

People will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be briars and thorns.

As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the plow, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for ^(F1)(C1)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

Then the LORD said to me, "Take for yourself a large tablet and ^(C1)write on it ^(F1)in ordinary letters: ^(F2)(C2)Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

"And ^(F1)I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, ^(C1)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."

So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, "Name him ^(F1)(C1)Maher-shalal-hash-baz;

for ^(C1)before the boy knows how to cry out 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of ^(C2)Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria."

Again the LORD spoke to me further, saying,

"Inasmuch as these people have ^(C1)rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah And rejoice in ^(C2)Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the ^(C1)strong and abundant waters of the ^(C2)Euphrates River, That is, the ^(C3)king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will ^(C4)rise over all its channels and go over all its banks.

-"Then ^(C1)it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will ^(C2)reach as far as the neck; And the spread of its wings will ^(F1)fill the expanse of ^(F2)your land, ^(C3)Immanuel.

"^(C1)Be broken, you peoples, and be ^(F1)(C2)shattered; And listen, all remote places of the earth. ^(F2)Get ready, yet be ^(F1)shattered; ^(F2)Get ready, yet be ^(F1)shattered.

-"^(C1)Devise a plan, but it will fail; State a ^(F1)proposal, but ^(C2)it will not stand, For ^(F2)(C3)God is with us."

For so the LORD spoke to me ^(F1)with ^(C1)mighty power and instructed me ^(C2)not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

"You are not to say, 'It is a ^(C1)conspiracy!' Regarding everything that this people call a conspiracy, And ^(C2)you are not to fear ^(F1)what they fear or be in dread of it.

-"It is the ^(C1)LORD of armies ^(C2)whom you are to regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.

-"Then He will become a ^(C1)sanctuary; But to both houses of Israel, He will be a ^(C2)stone of stumbling and a rock ^(F1)of offense, And a snare and a ^(C3)trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

-"Many ^(C1)will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will be snared and caught."

^(C1)Bind up the testimony, ^(C2)seal the ^(F1)Law among ^(C3)my disciples.

And I will ^(C1)wait for the LORD ^(C2)who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will wait eagerly for Him.

^(C1)Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for ^(C2)signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of armies, who ^(C3)dwells on Mount Zion.

When they say to you, "^(C1)Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter," should a people not ^(C2)consult their God? Should they ^(C3)consult the dead in behalf of the living?

To the ^(F1)(C1)Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because ^(C2)they have no dawn.

They will pass through ^(F1)the land ^(C1)dejected and hungry, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will become enraged and curse ^(F2)their king and their God as they face upward.

Then they will ^(C1)look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be ^(C2)driven away into darkness.