| NET Bible | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1I will sing to my love--a song to my lover about his vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a fertile hill. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 3So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard! | 3So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. |
| 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? | 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? |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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! | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 9The LORD who commands armies told me this: "Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. | 9I heard the LORD of Armies say: Indeed, many houses will become desolate, grand and lovely ones without inhabitants. |
| 10Indeed, a large vineyard will produce just a few gallons, and enough seed to yield several bushels will produce less than a bushel." | 10For a ten-acre vineyard will yield only six gallons of wine, and ten bushels of seed will yield only one bushel of grain. |
| 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. | 11Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 13Therefore my people will go into exile because they lack knowledge; her dignitaries are starving, and her masses are parched with thirst. |
| 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. | 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! |
| 15Men will be humiliated, they will be brought low; the proud will be brought low. | 15Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled, and haughty eyes are humbled. |
| 16The LORD who commands armies will be exalted when he punishes, the sovereign God's authority will be recognized when he judges. | 16But the LORD of Armies is exalted by his justice, and the holy God shows that he is holy through his righteousness. |
| 17Lambs will graze as if in their pastures, amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze. | 17Lambs will graze as if in their own pastures, and resident aliens will eat among the ruins of the rich. |
| 18Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, who pull sin as with cart ropes. | 18Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes, |
| 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!" | 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!" |
| 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. | 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. |
| 21Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, those who think they possess understanding. | 21Woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever. |
| 22Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks. | 22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are champions at pouring beer, |
| 23They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent. | 23who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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! |
| 27None tire or stumble, they don't stop to nap or sleep. They don't loosen their belts, or unstrap their sandals to rest. | 27None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap broken. |
| 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. | 28Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows strung. Their horses' hooves are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
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