Christian Standard Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

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.

1Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile 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.

2He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.

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

3"And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between 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?

4"What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?

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.

5"So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.

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.

6"I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on 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 delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

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 to those who add 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!

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

9In my ears the LORD of hosts has sworn, "Surely, many houses shall become desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants.

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

10"For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, And a homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain."

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

11Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may 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.

12Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work 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 go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched 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 Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem's splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.

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

15So the common man will be humbled and the man of importance abased, The eyes of the proud also will be abased.

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 will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.

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

17Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy.

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

18Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;

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!"

19Who 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!"

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 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!

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

21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!

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

22Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,

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

23Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

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 a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; For they have rejected 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.

25On this account the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this His anger is not spent, But His hand is still stretched out.

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!

26He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will 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.

27No one in it is weary or stumbles, None slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the belt at its waist undone, Nor its 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.

28Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot 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.

29Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it seizes the prey And carries it off with no one to 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 it will growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.

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

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org