Forgotten Ground Regained
The Vineyard Loved by the Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 5:1-7)
Isaiah 5:1-7 is read on Good Friday, Chief Service.
For my Beloved I will sing a song about His vineyard:
On a fertile hill He fashioned a vineyard.He hoed the earth and hefted stonesto clear the land for a luscious yield.He planted the soil with superb vines.He raised a watchtower and carved a winepress,expecting good grapes would grow from His care—alas, only wild ones for all His work!
“Jerusalem and Judah, judge, I pray you.What more could be done that I did not dofor this vineyard I served with such devotion?Why, when I looked for luscious grapes,did these worthless rotten wild grapes appear?
“Now listen to Me, O people, and learn what I will doto this vineyard I lavished with loving care.I will take away its wall and hedge;I will burn its hedge and break down its wall.It shall be trampled by beasts and trodden by men:I will lay waste My onetime vineyard.Not hoed, not cultivated, this hill shall be coveredwith thriving weeds, with thorn and thistle.And I will command the clouds to keep their rain from it.”
For the vineyard loved by the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel and the house of Judah.But where He sought justice, He saw oppression;and instead of righteousness there were wretched cries.
Copyright © 2023 Kathryn Ann Hill.