The harp and the strings, The tambourine and flute, And wine are in their feasts; But they do not regard the work of the Lord, Nor consider the operation of His hands.
Parallel translations
- WEB The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don’t respect the work of Yahweh, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.
- KJV And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
- BSB At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
- NASB Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.
- NLT They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties— lyre and harp, tambourine and flute— but they never think about the Lord or notice what he is doing.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Their feasts are full of music and wine, yet they ignore the work and deeds of the Lord. It exposes a culture of pleasure that is blind to God's hand.
Overview
The list of instruments shows a society devoted to entertainment while neglecting spiritual realities. To 'not respect the work of Yahweh' is to live as though God is absent or irrelevant. This willful blindness, not the music itself, is the sin that invites the judgment announced in the following verse.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 28:5Because they don’t respect the works of Yahweh, nor the operation of his hands, he will break them down and not build them up.
- Amos 6:4–6Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the middle of the stall;
- Job 21:11–14They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance.
- Job 34:27because they turned aside from following him, and wouldn’t pay attention to any of his ways,
- Dan 5:23but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which don’t see, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified.
- Jude 1:12These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
- Dan 5:1–4Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
- Hos 4:10–11They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned giving to Yahweh.
- Ps 92:5–6How great are your works, Yahweh! Your thoughts are very deep.
- Gen 31:27Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn’t tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp;
- Isa 22:13and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”
- Isa 5:19Who say, “Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”
- Luke 16:19“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 5:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.