Isaiah 5:6 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.
Isaiah 5:6 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."
Isaiah 5:6 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."
Isaiah 5:6 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.
Isaiah 5:6 nlt
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.
Isaiah 5 6 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isa 5:1-7 | My beloved had a vineyard... and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! | The Vineyard Song; context of judgment. |
| Deut 28:23-24 | The heaven above your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust. | Drought as a covenant curse for disobedience. |
| Lev 26:18-20 | If in spite of this you will not obey me... I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron. | God's judgment includes withdrawing rain. |
| Amos 4:7-8 | I withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest... Yet you did not return to me. | God using drought as discipline. |
| Jer 12:10 | Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled down my portion. | Judgment upon those who cared for Israel. |
| Jer 12:13 | They have sown wheat and reaped thorns. | Consequences of sin; spiritual futility. |
| Jer 2:21 | Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then has it turned into a wild vine? | Israel's apostasy from its pure origins. |
| Hos 10:1 | Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit, the more altars he built. | Israel's prosperity leading to idolatry. |
| Ps 80:8-16 | You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. | God's care for Israel as a vine. |
| Matt 7:19 | Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. | Judgment on unfruitful spiritual lives. |
| Matt 21:33-44 | Listen to another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard... | Parable of the wicked tenants, Israel's rejection. |
| John 15:2 | Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes. | The True Vine; removing unproductive parts. |
| Heb 6:7-8 | For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. | Warning against apostasy and unfruitfulness. |
| Gen 3:17-18 | Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. | Thorns/thistles as symbols of curse and decay. |
| Prov 24:30-31 | I passed by the field of a sluggard... and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns. | Neglect leading to ruin and barrenness. |
| Luke 13:6-9 | And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.” | Parable of the barren fig tree; call to repentance. |
| Isa 32:13 | On the land of my people will grow thorns and briers, yes, on all the joyous houses in the jubilant city. | Widespread desolation due to judgment. |
| Isa 7:23 | In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. | Thorns and briers indicating economic ruin. |
| Job 30:7 | Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they huddled. | Wilderness and desolate places. |
| Rom 1:24, 26, 28 | Therefore God gave them up... | God's abandonment of those who reject Him. |
| Zech 10:1 | Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the latter rain, from the Lord who makes the storm clouds. | God's sovereign control over rain. |
| Jas 5:17-18 | Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. | Example of God controlling rain through prayer/prophet. |
Isaiah 5 verses
Isaiah 5 6 Meaning
Isaiah 5:6 portrays God's decisive judgment upon His vineyard, which represents the people of Israel and Judah. Having tended it with great care, He found it yielding only wild, useless grapes—symbolizing their failure to produce justice and righteousness. Therefore, He declares His intention to withdraw all cultivation and protection. The vineyard will be left to become desolate, overgrown with briers and thorns, and deprived of rain, leading to utter unfruitfulness and ruin. This signifies a profound spiritual abandonment and the cessation of divine favor due to persistent unfaithfulness.
Isaiah 5 6 Context
Isaiah chapter 5, famously known as the "Song of the Vineyard," is a powerful prophetic allegory where the prophet Isaiah—speaking for God—describes God's intimate and diligent care for Israel, metaphorically depicted as a vineyard. This chapter addresses the spiritual state of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) in the 8th century BC, during a time of relative prosperity under kings like Uzziah and Jotham. Despite God's abundant provision and protection (planting on a rich, fertile hill, clearing stones, building a watchtower, digging a winepress), the vineyard produced "wild grapes"—meaning bloodshed instead of justice, and an outcry instead of righteousness (Isa 5:7). Verse 6 directly states the severe consequence of this failure: God's determined plan to devastate the vineyard. This judgment serves as a preamble to the subsequent "six woes" (Isa 5:8-23), which elaborate on the specific sins of injustice, greed, idolatry, drunkenness, and spiritual arrogance prevalent in Judah that led to their moral decay and earned God's wrath. The imagery of agricultural neglect and drought would have been profoundly understandable and terrifying to an agrarian society highly dependent on consistent rainfall and careful cultivation for survival.
Isaiah 5 6 Word analysis
I will lay it waste (וְאֲשִׁיתֵהוּ לָחֳרְבָּה - ve'ashitehu laḥorbah):
אֲשִׁיתֵהוּ(ashitehu) fromשִׁית(shiyt): "to set," "to place," "to put." Here, it signifies a deliberate, active imposition. God Himself, the divine Gardner, is taking action.לָחֳרְבָּה(laḥorbah) fromחָרְבָּה(chorbah): "desolation," "ruin," "wasteland." This is not just neglect but an active removal of productive life, leading to complete abandonment and unproductive decay. It reflects a judgment of finality regarding their spiritual fruitfulness.
it shall not be pruned or hoed (לֹא יִזָּמֵר וְלֹא יֵעָדֵר - lo yizzamer velo ye'ader):
יִזָּמֵר(yizzamer) fromזָמַר(zamar): "to prune," specifically the cutting away of dead or unproductive branches to encourage fruitful growth.יֵעָדֵר(ye'ader) fromעָדַר(adar): "to hoe," "to dig," or "to cultivate the soil" around the plants. This action involves breaking up hardened soil and removing weeds to ensure nutrients and moisture reach the roots.- The cessation of these activities means the complete withdrawal of God's active, corrective, and nourishing care. He will no longer discipline or tend to Israel in a way that leads to fruitfulness, symbolizing a state of spiritual stagnation and decay.
and briers and thorns shall grow up (וְעָלָה שָׁמִיר וָשַׁיִת - ve'alah shamir vashayit):
שָׁמִיר(shamir) andוָשַׁיִת(vashayit): Common Hebrew terms for thorny weeds and brambles. These are aggressive, unproductive plants that naturally overrun neglected ground.- Their growth is the inevitable consequence of the removal of cultivation. Spiritually, they represent the encroaching effects of sin, moral degradation, chaos, and societal breakdown that occur when divine truth and righteousness are abandoned. They are symbolic of the curse (Gen 3:18).
I will also command the clouds (וְעַל־הֶעָבִים אֲצַוֶּה - ve'al-he'avim atzavveh):
אֲצַוֶּה(atzavveh) fromצָוָה(tzavah): "to command," "to ordain," "to order." This emphasizes God's absolute sovereignty and control over creation, specifically elements crucial for life.- God directly issues the command to the very heavens, underscoring the divine source of the judgment.
that they rain no rain upon it (מֵהַמְטִיר עָלָיו מָטָר - mehamṭir 'alav maṭar):
מָטָר(matar): "rain," essential for agriculture and life in the Near East.- The withholding of rain is the ultimate act of divine judgment in an agrarian society, guaranteeing the utter demise of the vineyard. It symbolizes the withdrawal of spiritual nourishment, blessings, and revival from God, leading to complete spiritual barrenness and death.
Words-group Analysis:
- "I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed...": This phrase clearly indicates God's active role in the judgment, rather than merely observing decline. He is initiating and sustaining the conditions of desolation by ceasing His benevolent intervention and setting in motion ruin. It's a statement of active non-intervention and deliberate withdrawal of blessings.
- "...and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.": This progression shows the natural consequence of spiritual neglect (thorns and briers) followed by God's direct, supernatural intervention to seal the judgment (no rain). The thorns represent the fruit of the fallen human nature when untended, while the drought represents the absolute removal of divine life-sustaining presence and grace.
Isaiah 5 6 Bonus section
The active "I will" statements ("I will lay it waste," "I will command the clouds") throughout the verse are significant. They underscore God's deliberate and personal involvement in this judgment, dispelling any notion that Israel's decline was merely accidental or beyond divine decree. This intentional abandonment is one of the most severe forms of judgment in Scripture, allowing the covenant curses (Deut 28) to fully manifest. Furthermore, the agricultural imagery, particularly the absence of rain, directly links Israel's spiritual state to its physical prosperity, a fundamental principle of the Old Covenant where obedience led to blessing and disobedience to hardship, particularly drought. The removal of pruning can also imply God will no longer perform the necessary discipline (Heb 12:5-11) needed to perfect His people, leaving them in a state of corrupted growth.
Isaiah 5 6 Commentary
Isaiah 5:6 articulates the divine judgment against Israel (the vineyard) for its spiritual barrenness despite God's lavish care. The core message is that deliberate unfaithfulness and failure to bear the fruit of righteousness (justice and uprightness) will lead to the removal of God's gracious cultivation and protection. The "pruning and hoeing" represent God's past disciplinary actions and spiritual nurturing which, having been ignored, will cease. The subsequent growth of "briers and thorns" is the inevitable result of this neglect, symbolizing the destructive impact of sin and the wild, chaotic nature that thrives when divine order is absent. The ultimate sign of judgment, "command[ing] the clouds that they rain no rain," signifies a total spiritual drought and the complete withdrawal of divine blessing, leaving the once-chosen people in utter desolation. This verse underscores God's sovereignty over blessings and curses, His abhorrence of unrighteousness, and the dire consequences of spiritual rebellion. It reveals that God's judgment is not always direct punishment but often involves allowing the natural, destructive consequences of sin to take their course, removing His life-sustaining hand.