NET Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1I will sing to my love--a song to my lover about his vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a 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 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 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, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard!

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

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 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.

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; 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.

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."

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 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.

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, So that you have to live alone in the midst of 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.

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

10Indeed, a large vineyard will produce just a few gallons, and enough seed to yield several bushels will produce less than a bushel."

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."

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 that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!

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.

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 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 go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is 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 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.

15Men will be humiliated, they will be brought low; the proud will be brought low.

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

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

17Lambs will graze as if in their pastures, amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze.

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

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 the cords of falsehood, And sin as if 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!"

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!"

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 are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!

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 in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,

23They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent.

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

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 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.

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.

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 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 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 tire or stumble, they don't stop to nap or sleep. They don't loosen their belts, or unstrap their sandals to rest.

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 are prepared. The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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