The LORD’s Vineyard

1I will singa for my beloved

my love-song concerning his vineyard:

“The one I love had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

2He plowed its landb and cleared it of stones.

Then he planted it with the choicest vines,

built a watchtower in the middle of it,

and dug a wine vat in it;

He expectedc it to produce goodd grapes,

but it produced only wild ones.”e

3“So now, you inhabitantsf of Jerusalem

and men of Judah,

judge, won’t you please,

between me and my vineyard.

4What more could I do ing my vineyard,

that I haven’t already done?

When I expected it to produce goodh grapes,

why did it yieldi wild ones?j

5“Now, let me tell you, won’t you please,

what I’m going to do to my vineyard.

“I’m going to take away its protective hedge,

and it will be devoured;k

I’ll break down its wall,

and it will be trampled.

6I’ll make it a wasteland,

and it won’t be pruned or cultivated.

Instead, briers and thorns will grow up.

I’ll also issue commands to the clouds,

that they drop no rain upon it.”

7For the vineyard of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies

is the house of Israel,

and the men of Judah

are the garden in which he delights.l

He looked for justice,

but saw only bloodshed;

he searchedm for righteousness,

but heard only an outcry!

Judgment on Land Barons

8“How terrible it will be for you who join house to house,

who add field to field,

until there is no more room,

and you have settled yourselves alonen

in the middle of the land!”

9The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it:

“Surely many houses will become desolate,

great and beautiful houses,

without occupants.

10For ten acres of vineyard will produce only one bath,o

and one omerp of seedq will produce only one ephah.”r

Judgment on Alcoholics

11“How terrible it will be for those who rise at dawn

in order to grabs a stiff drink,

for those who stay up late at night

as wine inflames them!

12They have the lyre and harp,

the tambourine and flute,

as well as wine at their festivals,

but they don’t respect what the LORD is doing,

nor do they consider his actions.t

13Therefore my people go into exile

because they lack understanding;

myu honored men go hungry,

and the crowd is parched with thirst.

14Therefore Sheol’sv appetite has grown;

it has opened its mouth beyond limit.

Jerusalem’s nobility and her multitudes will go there,

along with her brawlers and whoever is reveling within her.

15Humanity is brought low,

and each one is humbled,

while the eyes of the self-exalting are brought low.

16But the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is exalted in justice,

and the Holy God proves himself to be righteously holy.

17Then the lambs will graze in their pasture;

fatlings and foreigners will eat

among the waste places of the rich.”

Judgment on Mockers

18“How terrible it will be for those who parade iniquity with cords of falsehood,

who draw sin along asw with a cart rope;

19who say: ‘Let Godx be quick,

let him speed upy his work

so we may see it!

Let it happen!

let the plan of the Holy One of Israel draw near,

so we may recognize it!’”

Judgment on Moral Relativists

20“How terrible it will be for those who call evil good

and good evil,

who substitute darkness for light

and light for darkness,

who substitute what is bitter for what is sweet

and what is sweet for what is bitter!”

Judgment on the Arrogant

21“How terrible it will be for those who are wise in their own opinion,

and clever in their own reckoning!

22“How terrible it will be for those who are heroes at drinking wine,

and champions in mixing strong drink,

23who acquit the guilty for a bribe,

and deprive the innocent of justice!”

The Effects of Divine Judgment

24Therefore, as flames of fire devour straw,

as dry grassz collapses in flames,

so their root will be rotten,

and their blossom will blow away like dust,

because they have rejected the instructionaa of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies,

and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25Thereforebb the anger of the LORDcc burned against his people,

so he stretched out his handsdd against them

and afflicted them.

The mountains quaked,

and their corpses were like refuse

in the middle of the streets.

Throughout all of this, his anger has not turned away,

and his hands areee still stretched out to attack.ff

26The LORDgg will signalhh for nations far away,

whistling for them to comeii

from the ends of the earth.

Look how quickly

and how swiftly they come!

27No one is weary, no one stumbles,jj

and no one slumbers or sleeps.

No belt around their waists will come undone,

nor will their sandal straps be broken.

28Their arrows are sharp,

all their bows ready for action.kk

Their horses’ hooves seem like flint,

and their chariot wheels spinll like a whirlwind.

29With a roar like a lion, they snarl,

and like young lions, they growl;mm

they seize their prey

and then carry it off,

with no one to rescue.

30They will roar over itnn at that time,oo

like the sea waves roar.

If one surveys the land, watch out!

There’s darkness and distress;

even the daylight is darkened by its clouds.