The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed
Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had aa vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with achoice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and bhe looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 aWhat more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
bWhen I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove aits hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
bI will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and abriers and thorns shall grow up;
bI will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 aFor the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry!
Woe to the Wicked
8 Woe to those who ajoin house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to dwell alone
in the midst of the land.
9 The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
a“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 aFor ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
and a bhomer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”
11 Woe to those who arise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
as wine inflames them!
12 aThey have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
bbut they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.
13 Therefore my people go into exile
afor lack of knowledge;
their bhonored men go hungry,
and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has aenlarged its appetite
and opened bits mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down,
her revelers and he who cexults in her.
15 aMan is humbled, and each one is brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.
16 aBut the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice,
and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze aas in their pasture,
and bnomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with acords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: a“Let him be quick,
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to athose who call evil good
and good evil,
bwho put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are awise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are aheroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who aacquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!
24 Therefore, aas the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so btheir root will be cas rottenness,
and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have drejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
and have edespised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore athe anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
and bthe mountains quaked;
and their corpses were cas refuse
in the midst of the streets.
dFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
26 He will araise a signal for nations far away,
and bwhistle for them cfrom the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 aNone is weary, none stumbles,
none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
not a sandal strap broken;
28 atheir arrows are sharp,
all their bows bent,
their horses’ hoofs seem like flint,
and their wheels blike the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
like young lions they roar;
they growl and aseize their prey;
they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day,
like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
behold, adarkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.