2 Nephi 15
People in this chapter
Nephi said he copied Isaiah's words that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men (2 Nephi 11:8). This chapter tests that promise. Most of it is sorrowful: a vineyard that fails, six woes on sinful habits, and a refrain of anger. Then, in the last verses, the Lord raises a banner and people come running from the ends of the earth.
Tap any highlighted phrase to jump to the commentary that unpacks it.
2 Nephi 15:1-7My Well-Beloved Hath a Vineyard
1And then will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved, touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. 2And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine-press therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
Isaiah sings a love song about a vineyard. The owner did everything right: cleared the stones, planted the best vine, built a tower. It still grew wild grapes.
4What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes it brought forth wild grapes. 5And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard—I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down; 6And 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.
7For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant; and he looked for judgment, and behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry.
Isaiah explains the song: the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel. The Lord looked for justice and found oppression.
2 Nephi 15:8-17They Regard Not the Work of the Lord
8Wo unto them that join house to house, till there can be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! 9In mine ears, said the Lord of Hosts, of a truth many houses shall be desolate, and great and fair cities without inhabitant. 10Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.
Now come the woes. The first is against people who buy up house after house and field after field until they live alone in the midst of the earth.
11Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, that continue until night, and wine inflame them! 12And 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. 13Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
The second woe is against those who party from morning to night but regard not the work of the Lord. Isaiah says the people go into captivity because they have no knowledge.
14Therefore, hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. 15And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. 16But the Lord of Hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. 17Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
Proud and lowly alike are brought down, and the Lord of Hosts shall be exalted. Where the city stood, lambs will graze.
2 Nephi 15:18-25Wo unto Them That Call Evil Good
18Wo unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope; 19That say: Let him make speed, hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it.
20Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21Wo unto the wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight!
The fourth woe is the most quoted: Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil. When people trade the labels on light and darkness, they lose the ability to choose well.
22Wo unto the mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink; 23Who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! 24Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, their root shall be rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25Therefore, is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
The root problem: they have cast away the law of the Lord. Then comes a refrain that will repeat through these chapters: his hand is stretched out still.
2 Nephi 15:26-30An Ensign to the Nations from Far
26And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them.
An ensign is a banner raised high for people to gather to. The Lord will lift one up to the nations from far, and they will come quickly.
To hiss here means to whistle, the way a shepherd calls his flock. The Lord later told Nephi that his people's words would hiss forth unto the ends of the earth.
27None shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken; 28Whose arrows shall be sharp, and all their bows bent, and their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind, their roaring like a lion. 29They shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry away safe, and none shall deliver. 30And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if they look unto the land, behold, darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Those who answer the call come with speed swiftly. None are weary, none stumble. Latter-day Saints see in this the speed of the latter-day gathering.
Research trail
Sources & further study
These references support the historical, linguistic, manuscript, and contextual notes in this chapter. Scripture remains the primary text; external sources are provided so readers can inspect the research directly.
- Vineyard of the LordGathers the scriptures that use the vineyard as a symbol for the Lord's people and work, including Isaiah 5, Jacob 5, and modern revelation, for reading verses 1-7 alongside them.
- EnsignDefines an ensign as a flag or standard people rally around and lists the passages, including this one, that Latter-day Saints connect with the gathering of Israel.
- How Does Nephi Use Isaiah to Teach Us to Avoid Pride?Follows the theme of pride through the Isaiah chapters Nephi quotes, including the humbling of the lofty in verse 15 and the wise in their own eyes of verse 21, and shows how Nephi reuses that language in 2 Nephi 25-30.
- What Vision Guides Nephi’s Choice of Isaiah Chapters?Argues that Nephi chose Isaiah passages that follow the outline of his own vision, ending with the restoration of Israel that the ensign of verse 26 announces.
Where this echoes in Scripture
My Well-Beloved Hath a Vineyard
- Jacob 5:41And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?
- Matthew 21:33There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower.Jesus retells Isaiah's song.
- John 15:5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.
- D&C 101:44-45Go ye unto my vineyard... and set watchmen round about them, and build a tower.
They Regard Not the Work of the Lord
- 2 Nephi 12:11The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
- Hosea 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
- Luke 12:15A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
- 2 Nephi 9:29But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.
Wo unto Them That Call Evil Good
- Moroni 7:16For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil.
- 2 Nephi 28:20At that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
- Proverbs 3:7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
- 2 Peter 3:4Where is the promise of his coming?
An Ensign to the Nations from Far
- 2 Nephi 21:12And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel.
- 2 Nephi 29:2My words shall hiss forth unto the ends of the earth, for a standard unto my people, which are of the house of Israel.
- D&C 115:5Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations.
- D&C 45:9I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people.
- 1 Nephi 21:22I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people.