5
Parable of the Vineyard
1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a
Avineyard on
1a fertile hill.
2 He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with
1the
Achoicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a
2wine vat in it;
Then He
Bexpected
it to produce
good grapes,
But it produced
only 3worthless ones.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
AJudge between Me and My vineyard.
4 “
AWhat more was there to do for My vineyard
1that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected
it to produce
good grapes did it produce
2worthless ones?
5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will
Aremove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will
Bbreak down its wall and it will become
Ctrampled ground.
It will not be pruned or hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also charge the clouds to
Brain no rain on it.”
7 For the
Avineyard of the Loʀᴅ of hosts is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His delightful plant.
Thus He looked for justice, but behold,
Bbloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
Woes for the Wicked
8 Woe to those who
Aadd house to house
and join field to field,
Until there is no more room,
So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!
9 In my ears the Loʀᴅ of hosts
has sworn, “Surely,
Amany houses shall become
Bdesolate,
Even great and fine ones, without occupants.
10 “For
Aten acres of vineyard will yield
only one
1bath
of wine, And a
Bhomer of seed will yield
but an
2ephah of grain.”
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue
Astrong drink,
Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!
12 Their banquets are
accompanied by lyre and
Aharp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine;
But they
Bdo not pay attention to the deeds of the Loʀᴅ,
Nor do they consider the work of His hands.
13 Therefore My people go into exile for their
Alack of knowledge;
And
1their
Bhonorable men are famished,
And their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore
ASheol has enlarged its
1throat and opened its mouth without measure;
And
2Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din
of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend
into it. 15 So the common man will be humbled and the man of importance abased,
AThe eyes of the proud also will be abased.
16 But the
ALoʀᴅ of hosts will be
Bexalted in judgment,
And the holy God will show Himself
Choly in righteousness.
17 AThen the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
And strangers will eat in the waste places of the
1wealthy.
18 Woe to those who drag
Ainiquity with the cords of
1falsehood,
And sin as if with cart ropes;
19 AWho say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see
it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near
And come to pass, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to those who
Acall evil good, and good evil;
Who
1Bsubstitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who
1substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are
Awise in their own eyes
And clever in their own sight!
22 AWoe to those who are heroes in drinking wine
And valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 AWho justify the wicked for a bribe,
And
Btake away the
1rights of the ones who are in the right!
24 Therefore,
Aas a tongue of fire consumes stubble
And dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their
Broot will become
Clike rot and their blossom
1blow away as dust;
For they have
Drejected the law of the Loʀᴅ of hosts
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 On this account the
Aanger of the Loʀᴅ has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.
And the
Bmountains quaked, and their
Ccorpses
1lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
DFor all this His anger
2is not spent,
But His
Ehand is still stretched out.
26 He will also lift up a
Astandard to the
1distant nation,
And will
Bwhistle for it
Cfrom the ends of the earth;
And behold, it will
Dcome with speed swiftly.
27 ANo one in it is weary or stumbles,
None slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the
Bbelt at its waist undone,
Nor its sandal strap broken.
28 1AIts arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;
The hoofs of its horses
2seem like flint and its
chariot Bwheels like a whirlwind.
29 Its
Aroaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;
It growls as it
Bseizes the prey
And carries
it off with
Cno one to deliver
it. 30 And it will
Agrowl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one
Blooks to the land, behold, there is darkness
and distress;
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.