Isaiah 5:6
New International Version
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.”

New Living Translation
I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.

English Standard Version
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.

Berean Standard Bible
I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”

King James Bible
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 King James Version
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.”

New American Standard Bible
“I will 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 rain on it.”

NASB 1995
“I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”

NASB 1977
“And I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”

Legacy Standard Bible
I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also command the clouds to rain no rain on it.”

Amplified Bible
“I will turn it into a wasteland; It will not be pruned or cultivated, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.”

Christian Standard Bible
I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it.

American Standard Version
and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

Contemporary English Version
It will turn into a desert, neither pruned nor hoed; it will be covered with thorns and briars. I will command the clouds not to send rain.

English Revised Version
and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
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.

Good News Translation
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."

International Standard Version
I'll make it a wasteland, and it won't be pruned or cultivated. Instead, briers and thorns will grow up. I'll also issue commands to the clouds, that they drop no rain upon it."

Majority Standard Bible
I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.?

NET Bible
I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.

New Heart English Bible
I will lay it a wasteland. It won't be pruned nor hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it."

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
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.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And I make it a waste, "" It is not pruned, nor arranged, "" And brier and thorn have gone up, "" And I lay a charge on the thick clouds, "" From raining on it rain.

Young's Literal Translation
And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain.

Smith's Literal Translation
And I will make it a desolation; it shall not be pruned and it shall not be dressed, and there came up sharp points and thorns: and upon the clouds I will command from raining rain upon it.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will make it desolate: it shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged: but briers and thorns shall come up: and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it.

Catholic Public Domain Version
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.

New American Bible
Yes, I will make it a ruin: it shall not be pruned or hoed, but will be overgrown with thorns and briers; I will command the clouds not to rain upon it.

New Revised Standard Version
I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall spring up in it briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And I shall make it to be destroyed and it shall not be preserved, neither shall it be cultivated, and thorns shall sprout in it and a thicket, and I shall order the clouds that rain will not descend upon it
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And I will lay it waste: It shall not be pruned nor hoed, But there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain upon it.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And I will forsake my vineyard; and it shall not be pruned, nor dug, and thorns shall come up upon it as on barren land; and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Song of the Vineyard
5Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.” 7For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.…

Cross References
Matthew 21:19
Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.

Luke 13:6-9
Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. / So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ / ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ...

Jeremiah 12:10-11
Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland. / They have made it a desolation; desolate before Me, it mourns. All the land is laid waste, but no man takes it to heart.

Hosea 2:12
I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers. So I will make them into a thicket, and the beasts of the field will devour them.

Amos 4:7-9
“I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered. / People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied; yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD. / “I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

Micah 3:12
Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

Matthew 21:33-41
Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. / When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. / But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ...

Mark 11:12-14
The next day, when they had left Bethany, Jesus was hungry. / Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if there was any fruit on it. But when He reached it, He found nothing on it except leaves, since it was not the season for figs. / Then He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again.” And His disciples heard this statement.

John 15:1-6
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. / He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. / You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ...

Romans 11:17-22
Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root, / do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. / You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ...

Ezekiel 15:6-8
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem. / And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD. / Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Joel 1:10-12
The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails. / Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. / The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

Psalm 80:12-13
Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit? / The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

Jeremiah 6:8
Be forewarned, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitant.”

Lamentations 2:6
He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest.


Treasury of Scripture

And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor dig; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.

I will lay

Isaiah 5:9,10
In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant…

Isaiah 6:11,12
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, …

Isaiah 24:1-3,12
Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof…

it shall

Isaiah 7:23-25
And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns…

Hosea 3:4
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

also

Isaiah 30:23
Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.

Deuteronomy 28:23,24
And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron…

Amos 4:7
And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

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Isaiah 5
1. Under the parable of a vineyard, God excuses his severe judgment
8. His judgments upon covetousness
11. Upon lasciviousness
13. Upon impiety
20. And upon injustice
26. The executioners of God's judgments














I will make it a wasteland
This phrase signifies God's judgment and the removal of His protection and blessing. In the context of Isaiah 5, the vineyard represents Israel, and the wasteland symbolizes the consequences of their unfaithfulness. The imagery of a vineyard becoming a wasteland is a powerful metaphor for divine judgment, reflecting the covenant curses found in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Historically, this foreshadows the destruction and exile that Israel would face due to their disobedience.

neither pruned nor cultivated
Pruning and cultivation are essential for a vineyard's health and productivity. The absence of these actions indicates neglect and abandonment. Spiritually, this suggests a withdrawal of God's nurturing care and guidance. In John 15:1-2, Jesus speaks of Himself as the true vine, and His followers as branches that require pruning to bear fruit. The lack of pruning here contrasts with the care God provides to those who remain in Him.

and thorns and briers will grow up
Thorns and briers are often associated with the curse of sin, as seen in Genesis 3:18, where the ground is cursed because of Adam's disobedience. In the prophetic context, these represent the consequences of Israel's sin and rebellion. The growth of thorns and briers signifies chaos and desolation, a reversal of the order and beauty God intended for His people.

I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.
Rain is a symbol of God's blessing and provision, essential for the fertility of the land. The withholding of rain is a direct act of divine judgment, as seen in the covenant curses of Leviticus 26:19 and Deuteronomy 11:17. This phrase underscores God's sovereignty over creation and His ability to withhold blessings as a form of discipline. In a broader theological sense, it points to the spiritual drought that occurs when people turn away from God, as seen in Amos 8:11, where there is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book and is delivering God's message to the people of Israel.

2. The Vineyard
Symbolic of the nation of Israel, the vineyard represents God's chosen people and His expectations for them to bear fruit.

3. Briers and Thorns
These represent the consequences of Israel's disobedience and failure to live up to God's standards.

4. The Clouds
Symbolic of God's control over nature, representing His judgment in withholding rain.

5. The Wasteland
The result of God's judgment, symbolizing the spiritual barrenness and desolation due to Israel's unfaithfulness.
Teaching Points
God's Expectation of Fruitfulness
God expects His people to bear spiritual fruit. Just as a vineyard is meant to produce grapes, believers are called to live lives that reflect God's character and purposes.

Consequences of Disobedience
The imagery of a wasteland and the absence of rain highlight the serious consequences of turning away from God. Spiritual barrenness results from neglecting our relationship with Him.

Divine Sovereignty
God's control over nature, as seen in His command to the clouds, reminds us of His ultimate authority over all creation. We are called to trust in His sovereignty and align our lives with His will.

The Importance of Spiritual Maintenance
Just as a vineyard requires pruning and care, our spiritual lives need regular attention through prayer, study of the Word, and fellowship with other believers to prevent spiritual decay.

Hope for Restoration
While the passage speaks of judgment, it also points to the possibility of restoration. God’s discipline is meant to bring His people back to Him, offering hope for renewal and fruitfulness.(6) There shall come up briers and thorns.--The picture of desolation is still part of a parable. The "briers and thorns" (both the words are peculiar to Isaiah) are the base and unworthy who take the place of the true leaders of the people (Judges 9:7-15). The absence of the pruning and the digging answers to the withdrawal of the means of moral and spiritual culture (John 15:2; Luke 13:8). The command given to the clouds (comp. 2Samuel 1:21, for the outward form of the thought) implies the cessation of all gracious spiritual influences.

Verse 6. - I will lay it waste; literally, I will make it a desolation (comp. Isaiah 7:19, where a cognate term occurs). Active ravage is not so much pointed at, as the desolation which comes from neglect. There shall come up briers and thorns. The natural produce of neglected ground in Palestine (see Proverbs 24:31). The "thorns and briers" symbolize vices of various kinds, the natural produce of the human soul, if God leaves it to itself. The words are scarcely to be taken literally, though it is probably true that "no country in the world has such variety and abundance of thorny plants as Palestine in its present desolation" (Macmillan, 'Min. of Nat.,' p. 103). I will also command the clouds. Here at last disguise is thrown off, and the speaker manifestly appears as Jehovah, who can alone "command the clouds." The "rain" intended is probably that of his gracious influences.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I will make
וַאֲשִׁיתֵ֣הוּ (wa·’ă·šî·ṯê·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - first person common singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7896: To put, set

it a wasteland,
בָתָ֗ה (ḇā·ṯāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 1326: End, destruction

neither
לֹ֤א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

pruned
יִזָּמֵר֙ (yiz·zā·mêr)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2168: To trim, prune

nor
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

cultivated,
יֵעָדֵ֔ר (yê·‘ā·ḏêr)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5737: To arrange as a battle, a vineyard, to muster, to miss

and thorns
וָשָׁ֑יִת (wā·šā·yiṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7898: Scrub, trash, wild growth of weeds, briers

and briers
שָׁמִ֖יר (šā·mîr)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8068: A thorn, a gem, the diamond

will grow up.
וְעָלָ֥ה (wə·‘ā·lāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

I will command
אֲצַוֶּ֔ה (’ă·ṣaw·weh)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 6680: To lay charge (upon), give charge (to), command, order

the clouds
הֶעָבִים֙ (he·‘ā·ḇîm)
Article | Noun - common plural
Strong's 5645: An envelope, darkness, a, cloud, a copse

that rain
מָטָֽר׃ (mā·ṭār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4306: Rain

shall not fall
מֵהַמְטִ֥יר (mê·ham·ṭîr)
Preposition-m | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct
Strong's 4305: To rain

on it.
עָלָ֖יו (‘ā·lāw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 5:6 I will lay it a wasteland (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 5:5
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