God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 5:6
6I will make it a wasteland. It will never be pruned or hoed. Thorns and weeds will grow in it, and I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
Isaiah 5:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
- New International Version (NIV)I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it.”
Context of Isaiah 5:6
4What more could have been done for my vineyard than what I have already done for it? When I waited for it to produce good grapes, why did it produce only sour, wild grapes? 5Now then, let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will tear away its hedge so that it can be devoured and tear down its wall so that it can be trampled. I will make it a wasteland. It will never be pruned or hoed. Thorns and weeds will grow in it, and I will command the clouds not to rain on it. 7The vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the garden of his delight. He hoped for justice but saw only slaughter, for righteousness but heard only cries of distress. 8How horrible it will be for you who acquire house after house and buy field after field until there’s nothing left and you have to live by yourself in the land.
Read all of Isaiah 5Isaiah 5:6 word by word
וַאֲשִׁיתֵ֣הוּ בָתָ֗ה לֹ֤א יִזָּמֵר֙ וְלֹ֣א יֵעָדֵ֔ר וְעָלָ֥ה שָׁמִ֖יר וָשָׁ֑יִת וְעַ֤ל הֶעָבִים֙ אֲצַוֶּ֔ה מֵהַמְטִ֥יר עָלָ֖יו מָטָֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And I will layשִׁיתshîyth · to set: makeH7896
- it wasteבָּתָהbâthâh · wasteH1326
- it shall not be prunedזָמַרzâmar · to pruneH2168
- nor diggedעָדַר‛âdar · to hoeH5737
- but there shall come upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- briersשָׁמִירshâmîyr · thornH8068
- and thornsשַׁ֫יִתshayith · thornbushH7898
- I will also commandצָוָהtsâvâh · to commandH6680
- the cloudsעָב‛âb · cloudH5645
- that they rainמָטַרmâţar · to rainH4305
- no rainמָטַרmâţâr · rainH4306
Cross-references for Isaiah 5:6
- Isaiah 5:9With my own ears I heard the Lord of Armies say, “Many houses will become empty. Large, beautiful houses will be without people to live in them.
- Isaiah 6:11I asked, “How long, O Lord?” And he replied, “Until the cities lie in ruins with no one living in them, the houses have no people, and the land is completely desolate.
- Isaiah 24:1The Lord is going to turn the earth into a desolate wasteland. He will mar the face of the earth and scatter the people living on it.
- Isaiah 32:13Mourn for my people’s land where thorns and briars will grow. Mourn for all the happy homes in a joyful city.
- Leviticus 26:33I will scatter you among the nations. War will follow you. Your country will be in ruins. Your cities will be deserted.
- Deuteronomy 29:23They will see all the soil poisoned with sulfur and salt. Nothing will be planted. Nothing will be growing. There will be no plants in sight. It will be as desolate as Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, cities the Lord destroyed in fierce anger.
- 2 Chronicles 36:19They burned God’s temple, tore down Jerusalem’s walls, burned down all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value.
- Jeremiah 25:11This whole land will be ruined and become a wasteland. These nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.
- Jeremiah 45:4“Say this to Baruch, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will tear down what I have built. I will uproot what I have planted throughout the earth.
- Luke 21:24Swords will cut them down, and they will be carried off into all nations as prisoners. Nations will trample Jerusalem until the times allowed for the nations ⌞to do this⌟ are over.
- Isaiah 7:23On that day, in every place where there were 1,000 vines (worth 1,000 pieces of silver), there will be briars and thorns.
- Hosea 3:4In the same way, the Israelites will wait a long time without kings or officials, without sacrifices or sacred stones, and without ephods or family idols.
- Isaiah 30:23The Lord will give you rain for the seed that you plant in the ground, and the food that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing. When that day comes, your cattle will graze in large pastures.
- Deuteronomy 28:23The sky above will look like bronze, and the ground below will be as hard as iron.
- Amos 4:7I stopped the rain from falling three months before the harvest. I sent rain on one city and not on another. One field had rain. Another field had none and dried up.
- Zechariah 14:16Everyone who is left from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will come every year to worship the king, the Lord of Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths.
Commentaries on Isaiah 5:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6There shall come up briers and thorns "The thorn shall spring up in it" - One MS. has בשמיר beshamir . The true reading seems to be שמור בו bo shamir, which is confirmed by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6I will lay it waste - The description here is continued from Isaiah 5:5. The image is carried out, and means that the Jews should be left utterly without protection. I will also command the clouds - It is evident here, that the parable or figure is partially dropped. A farmer could not command the clouds. It is God alone who could do that; and the figure of the vineyard is dropped, and God is introduced speaking as a sovereign. The meaning is, that he…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6Sometimes, the lack of rain was seen as a divine judgment (Deuteronomy 28:23–24; Haggai 1:11; 2:16). This was particularly harmful to a society that relied heavily on farming.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. I will ... command--The parable is partly dropped and Jehovah, as in Is 5:7, is implied to be the Owner: for He alone, not an ordinary husbandman (Mt 21:43; Lu 17:22), could give such a "command." no rain--antitypically, the heaven-sent teachings of the prophets (Am 8:11). Not accomplished in the Babylonish captivity; for Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah prophesied during or after it. But in gospel times.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 5:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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