English Standard Version

New Living Translation

1Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

1Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.

2He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

2He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.

3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

3Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.

4What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?

4What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?

5And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

5Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.

6I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

6I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.

7For 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!

7The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence. Judah’s Guilt and Judgment

8Woe to those who join 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.

8What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land.

9The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.

9But I have heard the LORD of Heaven’s Armies swear a solemn oath: “Many houses will stand deserted; even beautiful mansions will be empty.

10For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”

10Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain.”

11Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!

11What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of alcohol and spend long evenings drinking wine to make themselves flaming drunk.

12They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands.

12They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties— lyre and harp, tambourine and flute— but they never think about the LORD or notice what he is doing.

13Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst.

13So my people will go into exile far away because they do not know me. Those who are great and honored will starve, and the common people will die of thirst.

14Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her.

14The grave is licking its lips in anticipation, opening its mouth wide. The great and the lowly and all the drunken mob will be swallowed up.

15Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.

15Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation.

16But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.

16But the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will be exalted by his justice. The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness.

17Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

17In that day lambs will find good pastures, and fattened sheep and young goats will feed among the ruins.

18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes,

18What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart!

19who say: “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!”

19They even mock God and say, “Hurry up and do something! We want to see what you can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan, for we want to know what it is.”

20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

20What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.

21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!

21What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever.

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

22What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold.

23who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!

23They take bribes to let the wicked go free, and they punish the innocent.

24Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

24Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will rot and their flowers wither. For they have rejected the law of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies; they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

25That is why the LORD’s anger burns against his people, and why he has raised his fist to crush them. The mountains tremble, and the corpses of his people litter the streets like garbage. But even then the LORD’s anger is not satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike!

26He will raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come!

26He will send a signal to distant nations far away and whistle to those at the ends of the earth. They will come racing toward Jerusalem.

27None is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a waistband is loose, not a sandal strap broken;

27They will not get tired or stumble. They will not stop for rest or sleep. Not a belt will be loose, not a sandal strap broken.

28their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind.

28Their arrows will be sharp and their bows ready for battle. Sparks will fly from their horses’ hooves, and the wheels of their chariots will spin like a whirlwind.

29Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey; they carry it off, and none can rescue.

29They will roar like lions, like the strongest of lions. Growling, they will pounce on their victims and carry them off, and no one will be there to rescue them.

30They will growl over it on that day, like the growling of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its clouds.

30They will roar over their victims on that day of destruction like the roaring of the sea. If someone looks across the land, only darkness and distress will be seen; even the light will be darkened by clouds.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.