| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1I will sing to my love--a song to my lover about his vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a 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 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 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. |
| 3So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard! | 3Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you 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 that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter 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 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 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 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. |
| 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! | 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 |
| 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. | 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 who commands armies told me this: "Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. | 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. |
| 10Indeed, a large vineyard will produce just a few gallons, and enough seed to yield several bushels will produce less than a bushel." | 10Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket 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. | 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 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. | 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 will be deported because of their lack of understanding. Their leaders will have nothing to eat, their masses will have nothing to drink. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 15Men will be humiliated, they will be brought low; the proud will be brought low. | 15Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation. |
| 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 Heaven’s Armies will be exalted by his justice. The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness. |
| 17Lambs will graze as if in their pastures, amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze. | 17In that day lambs will find good pastures, and fattened sheep and young goats will feed among the ruins. |
| 18Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, who pull 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! |
| 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!" | 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.” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 21Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, those who think they possess understanding. | 21What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever. |
| 22Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks. | 22What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold. |
| 23They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent. | 23They take bribes to let the wicked go free, and they punish the innocent. |
| 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, 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. |
| 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. | 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 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 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 tire or stumble, they don't stop to nap or sleep. They don't loosen their belts, or unstrap their sandals to rest. | 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 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 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 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
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