Isaiah 5:8
6 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.”
7 For 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.
Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.
9 I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
10 For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.
- KJV
- Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
- WEB
- Woe 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!
- ASV
- Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
- DARBY
- Woe unto them that add house to house, that join field to field, until there is no more room, and that ye dwell yourselves alone in the midst of the land!
- BLB
- Woe to those joining house to house; field to field they bring near, until [there is] no place to stand, and you⁺ are made to dwell by yourselves alone in the midst of the land!
- ÅB
- Ve dere som legger hus til hus og mark til mark, inntil det ikke er mere rom tilbake, så dere blir boende alene i landet.
- OTB
- Ve dem som legger hus til hus og føyer åker til åker, til det ikke er plass igjen og dere er alene i landet.
- B1930
- Ve eder som legger hus til hus og mark til mark, inntil det ikke er mere rum tilbake, så I blir boende alene i landet.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Micah 2:2
They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.
Read in contextHabakkuk 2:9–12
Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
Read in contextJeremiah 22:13–17
“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
Read in contextLuke 12:16–24
Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance.
Read in context1 Kings 21:16–20
And when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Read in contextMatthew 23:13
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
Read in contextEzekiel 11:15
“Son of man, your brothers—your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel—are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’
Read in contextEzekiel 33:24
“Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
Read in context