Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 5:3

"And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard." — Isaiah 5:3 (ASV)

And now ... - This is an appeal which God makes to the Jews themselves, in regard to the justice and propriety of what He was about to do. A similar appeal He makes in Micah 6:3: O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me. He intended to “punish” them (Isaiah 5:5–6), and He appeals to them for the justice of it. He would do to them as they would do to a vineyard that had been carefully prepared and guarded, and which yet was valueless. A similar appeal He makes in Isaiah 1:18; and our Savior made an application remarkably similar in His parable of the vineyard (Matthew 21:40–43).

It is not improbable that He had His eye on this very place in Isaiah; and it is, therefore, the more remarkable that the Jews did not understand the bearing of His discourse.