Christian Standard Bible

King James Bible

1I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one's vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

1Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest vines. He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes.

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 winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

3So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.

3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

4What more could I have done for my vineyard than I did? Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless 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, brought it forth wild grapes?

5Now I will tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.

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 break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it.

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 Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant he delighted in. He expected justice but saw injustice; he expected righteousness, but heard cries of despair.

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, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field until there is no more room and you alone are left in the land.

8Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

9I heard the LORD of Armies say: Indeed, many houses will become desolate, grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.

9In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

10For a ten-acre vineyard will yield only six gallons of wine, and ten bushels of seed will yield only one bushel of grain.

10Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

11Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine.

11Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

12At their feasts they have lyre, harp, tambourine, flute, and wine. They do not perceive the LORD's actions, and they do not see the work of his hands.

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 will go into exile because they lack knowledge; her dignitaries are starving, and her masses are parched with thirst.

13Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

14Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens wide its enormous jaws, and down go Zion's dignitaries, her masses, her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!

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.

15Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled, and haughty eyes are humbled.

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 Armies is exalted by his justice, and the holy God shows that he is holy through his righteousness.

16But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

17Lambs will graze as if in their own pastures, and resident aliens will eat among the ruins of the rich.

17Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

18Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,

18Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

19to those who say: "Let him hurry up and do his work quickly so that we can see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take place so that we can know it!"

19That say, Let him make speed, and 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!

20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

20Woe 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!

21Woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever.

21Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are champions at pouring beer,

22Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

23who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.

23Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

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 rejected the instruction of the LORD of Armies, and they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

24Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom 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 the LORD's anger burned against his people. He raised his hand against them and struck them; the mountains quaked, 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.

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 carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

26He raises a signal flag for the distant nations and whistles for them from the ends of the earth. Look--how quickly and swiftly they come!

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:

27None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap broken.

27None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

28Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows strung. Their horses' hooves are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

28Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

29Their roaring is like a lion's; they roar like young lions; they growl and seize their prey and carry it off, and no one can rescue it.

29Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver 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.

30And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.