Song of the Vineyard

1I will sing about the one I love,

a song about my loved one’s vineyard:a

The one I love had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

2He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,

and planted it with the finest vines.a

He built a tower in the middle of it

and even dug out a winepress there.

He expectedb it to yield good grapes,

but it yielded worthless grapes.c

3So now, residents of Jerusalem

and men of Judah,

please judge between me

and my vineyard.

4What more could I have done for my vineyard

than I did?a

Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,

did it yield worthless grapes?

5Now I will tell you

what I am about to do to my vineyard:

I will remove its hedge,a

and it will be consumed;

I will tear down its wall,b

and it will be trampled.

6I will make it a wasteland.a

It will not be pruned or weeded;

thorns and briers will grow up.b

I will also give orders to the clouds

that rain should not fall on it.

7For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies

is the house of Israel,a

and the menA of Judah,

the plant he delighted in.

He expected justice

but saw injustice;

he expected righteousness

but heard cries of despair.

Judah’s Sins Denounced

8Woe to those who add house to housea

and join field to field

until there is no more room

and you alone are left in the land.

9I heard the Lord of Armies say:

Indeed, many housesa will become desolate,

grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.

10For a ten-acreA vineyard will yield

only six gallons of wine,B

and ten bushelsC of seed will yield

only one bushel of grain.D

11Woe to those who rise early in the morning

in pursuit of beer,a

who linger into the evening,

inflamed by wine.

12At their feasts they have lyre, harp,

tambourine, flute, and wine.

They do not perceive the Lord’s actions,a

and they do not see the work of his hands.b

13Therefore my people will go into exile

because they lack knowledge;a

herA dignitaries are starving,

and her masses are parched with thirst.

14Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat

and opens wide its enormous jaws,a

and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses,

her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!

15Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled,

and haughty eyes are humbled.a

16But the Lord of Armies is exalted by his justice,a

and the holy Godb demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.c

17Lambs will graze

as if inA their own pastures,a

and resident aliensB will eat

among the ruins of the rich.

18Woe to those who drag iniquity

with cords of deceita

and pull sin along with cart ropes,

19to those who say,

“Let him hurry up and do his work quickly

so that we can see it!

Let the plana of the Holy One of Israelb take place

so that we can know it! ”

20Woe to those who call evil good

and good evil,a

who substitute darkness for light

and light for darkness,

who substitute bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter.

21Woe to those who consider themselves wise

and judge themselves clever.a a

22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,

who are champions at pouring beer,a

23who acquit the guilty for a bribea

and deprive the innocent of justice.

24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw

and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,

so their roots will become like something rotten

and their blossoms will blow away like dust,

for they have rejecteda

the instruction of the Lord of Armies,

and they have despised

the word of the Holy One of Israel.b

25Therefore the Lord’s anger burneda against his people.

He raised his hand against them and struck them;

the mountains quaked,b

and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.

In all this, his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is still raised to strike.c

26He raises a signal flag for the distant nationsa

and whistlesb for them from the ends of the earth.

Look — how quickly and swiftly they come!

27None of them grows weary or stumbles;a

no one slumbers or sleeps.

No belt is loose

and no sandal strap broken.

28Their arrows are sharpened,

and all their bows strung.

Their horses’ hooves are like flint;

their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

29Their roaring is like a lion’s;a

they roar like young lions;b

they growl and seize their prey

and carry it off,

and no one can rescue it.

30On that day they will roar over it,

like the roaring of the sea.

When one looks at the land,

there will be darkness and distress;

light will be obscured by clouds.A