New King James Version

Christian Standard Bible

1Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful 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 dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.

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.

3“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.

3So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.

4What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes?

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?

5And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

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 lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no 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.

7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry 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.

8Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, Till there is no place Where they may dwell alone in the midst of 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.

9In my hearing the LORD of hosts said, “Truly, many houses shall be desolate, Great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant.

9I heard the LORD of Armies say: Indeed, many houses will become desolate, grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.

10For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, And a homer of seed shall yield one ephah.”

10For a ten-acre vineyard will yield only six gallons of wine, and ten bushels of seed will yield only one bushel of grain.

11Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!

11Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine.

12The harp and the strings, The tambourine and flute, And wine are in their feasts; But they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands.

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 have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitude dried up with thirst.

13Therefore my people will go into exile because they lack knowledge; her dignitaries are starving, and her masses are parched with thirst.

14Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself And opened its mouth beyond measure; Their glory and their multitude and their pomp, And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it.

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!

15People shall be brought down, Each man shall be humbled, And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.

15Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled, and haughty eyes are humbled.

16But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.

16But the LORD of Armies is exalted by his justice, and the holy God shows that he is holy through his righteousness.

17Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture, And in the waste places of the fat ones strangers shall eat.

17Lambs will graze as if in their own pastures, and resident aliens will eat among the ruins of the rich.

18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope;

18Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,

19That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may 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!"

20Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for 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.

21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!

21Woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever.

22Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,

22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are champions at pouring beer,

23Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!

23who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.

24Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, And the flame consumes the chaff, So their root will be as rottenness, And their blossom will ascend like dust; Because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, And despised the word 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.

25Therefore the anger of the LORD is aroused against His people; He has stretched out His hand against them And stricken them, And the hills trembled. Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

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 will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, 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!

27No one will be weary or stumble among them, No one will slumber or sleep; Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed, Nor the strap of their sandals be broken;

27None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap broken.

28Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; Their horses’ hooves will seem like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind.

28Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows strung. Their horses' hooves are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

29Their roaring will be like a lion, They will roar like young lions; Yes, they will roar And lay hold of the prey; They will carry it away safely, And no one will deliver.

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.

30In that day they will roar against them Like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, Behold, darkness and sorrow; And the light is darkened by the clouds.

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.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.