Isaiah 5
Jeremiah 5 is a chapter that speaks about the overall corruption in Jerusalem and, as a result, the judgment that will come upon them. The prophet Jeremiah goes through the streets of Jerusalem, seeking the people who will do what is right and pursue truth, as God commanded. However, he faces the reality that no one can be found.
You can see the passage as divided into three parts.
- Verses 1–9: An accusation of wickedness and ignorance in Jerusalem
- Verses 10–19: A declaration of judgment and the reason for it
- Verses 20–31: The stubbornness of the people and the corruption of their leaders
In each part, in common, God repeatedly seeks the possibility that Israel might repent and change, but the people’s response is either indifferent or outright rejecting.
1verseLet me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
2verseHe 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.
3verse“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.
4verseWhat 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?
5verseNow 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.
6verseI 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.”
7verseFor 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.
8verseWoe 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!
9verseIn my ears, the LORD of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied.
10verseFor ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah.”
11verseWoe 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!
12verseThe 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.
13verseTherefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.
14verseTherefore Sheol 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.
15verseSo man is brought low, mankind is humbled, and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;
16versebut the LORD of Armies is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.
17verseThen the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.
18verseWoe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope,
19versewho 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!”
20verseWoe 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!
21verseWoe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
22verseWoe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;
23versewho acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!
24verseTherefore 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.
25verseTherefore 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.
26verseHe 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.
27verseNo 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,
28versewhose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses’ hoofs will be like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.
29verseTheir 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.
30verseThey 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.
The Core Message and Meaning of the Passage
The core of Jeremiah 5 is God’s justice, sorrow, and patient endurance as He waits. God wants to find even a single person who would repent, but it is emphasized that the entire people are carrying out lies and injustice. In particular, it stands out that every level of society—both the people and the priests, as well as the prophets—has turned away from their own ways and become distant from God.
While God foretells judgment for sin, He also makes it clear that the purpose of judgment is not mere destruction, but to bring about genuine repentance and transformation.
Points for Reflection
- Through the passage, you can reflect on how precious God finds justice and truth.
- Why did God want to find even one righteous person? Think about what message that heart would bring to my life and my community.
- Look back to see whether there is any lie or injustice in the society and community where I belong, and illuminate life through God’s perspective.
Applying It to Me
- I ask myself whether I am living a life that is righteous and truthful.
- Rather than criticism, whether there is a place for repentance in my life to check.
- Even if it is only a small matter, if God is looking for me, I remember that I too can become a small light in the world, and I put it into practice in my life today.
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