| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1I will sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: "The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. | 1I will sing to my love--a song to my lover about his vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a fertile hill. |
| 2He plowed its land 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 expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only wild ones." | 2He built a hedge around it, removed its stones, and planted a vine. He built a tower in the middle of it, and constructed a winepress. He waited for it to produce edible grapes, but it produced sour ones instead. |
| 3"So now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, won't you please, between me and my vineyard. | 3So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard! |
| 4What more could I do in my vineyard, that I haven't already done? When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield wild ones? | 4What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I waited for it to produce edible grapes, why did it produce sour ones instead? |
| 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; I'll break down its wall, and it will be trampled. | 5Now I will inform you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. |
| 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." | 6I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on 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. He looked for justice, but saw only bloodshed; he searched for righteousness, but heard only an outcry! | 7Indeed Israel is the vineyard of the LORD who commands armies, the people of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice, but look what he got--disobedience! He waited for fairness, but look what he got--cries for help! |
| 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 alone in the middle of the land!" | 8Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, those who also accumulate landed property until there is no land left, and you are the only landowners remaining within 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. | 9The LORD who commands armies told me this: "Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. |
| 10For ten acres of vineyard will produce only one bath, and one omer of seed will produce only one ephah." | 10Indeed, a large vineyard will produce just a few gallons, and enough seed to yield several bushels will produce less than a bushel." |
| 11"How terrible it will be for those who rise at dawn in order to grab a stiff drink, for those who stay up late at night as wine inflames them! | 11Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead, those who keep drinking long after dark until they are intoxicated with wine. |
| 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. | 12They have stringed instruments, tambourines, flutes, and wine at their parties. So they do not recognize what the LORD is doing, they do not perceive what he is bringing about. |
| 13Therefore my people go into exile because they lack understanding; my honored men go hungry, and the crowd is parched with thirst. | 13Therefore my people will be deported because of their lack of understanding. Their leaders will have nothing to eat, their masses will have nothing to drink. |
| 14Therefore Sheol's 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. | 14So Death will open up its throat, and open wide its mouth; Zion's dignitaries and masses will descend into it, including those who revel and celebrate within her. |
| 15Humanity is brought low, and each one is humbled, while the eyes of the self-exalting are brought low. | 15Men will be humiliated, they will be brought low; the proud will be brought low. |
| 16But the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is exalted in justice, and the Holy God proves himself to be righteously holy. | 16The LORD who commands armies will be exalted when he punishes, the sovereign God's authority will be recognized when he judges. |
| 17Then the lambs will graze in their pasture; fatlings and foreigners will eat among the waste places of the rich." | 17Lambs will graze as if in their pastures, amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze. |
| 18"How terrible it will be for those who parade iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin along as with a cart rope; | 18Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, who pull sin as with cart ropes. |
| 19who say: 'Let God be quick, let him speed up 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!'" | 19They say, "Let him hurry, let him act quickly, so we can see; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take shape and come to pass, then we will know it!" |
| 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!" | 20Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. |
| 21"How terrible it will be for those who are wise in their own opinion, and clever in their own reckoning! | 21Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, those who think they possess understanding. |
| 22"How terrible it will be for those who are heroes at drinking wine, and champions in mixing strong drink, | 22Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks. |
| 23who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of justice!" | 23They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent. |
| 24Therefore, as flames of fire devour straw, as dry grass collapses in flames, so their root will be rotten, and their blossom will blow away like dust, because they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. | 24Therefore, as flaming fire devours straw, and dry grass disintegrates in the flames, so their root will rot, and their flower will blow away like dust. For they have rejected the law of the LORD who commands armies, they have spurned the commands of the Holy One of Israel. |
| 25Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against his people, so he stretched out his hands 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 are still stretched out to attack. | 25So the LORD is furious with his people; he lifts his hand and strikes them. The mountains shake, and corpses lie like manure in the middle of the streets. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. |
| 26The LORD will signal for nations far away, whistling for them to come from the ends of the earth. Look how quickly and how swiftly they come! | 26He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth. Look, they come quickly and swiftly. |
| 27No one is weary, no one stumbles, and no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt around their waists will come undone, nor will their sandal straps be broken. | 27None tire or stumble, they don't stop to nap or sleep. They don't loosen their belts, or unstrap their sandals to rest. |
| 28Their arrows are sharp, all their bows ready for action. Their horses' hooves seem like flint, and their chariot wheels spin like a whirlwind. | 28Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are prepared. The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm. |
| 29With a roar like a lion, they snarl, and like young lions, they growl; they seize their prey and then carry it off, with no one to rescue. | 29Their roar is like a lion's; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue. |
| 30They will roar over it at that time, 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. | 30At that time they will growl over their prey, it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster, clouds will turn the light into darkness. |
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