| New King James Version | NET 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 to my love--a song to my lover about his vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a 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 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“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. | 3So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide 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 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? |
| 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 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 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; 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 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. | 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! |
| 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! | 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. |
| 9In my hearing the LORD of hosts said, “Truly, many houses shall be desolate, Great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant. | 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 shall yield one bath, And a homer of seed shall yield 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." |
| 11Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till 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. |
| 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. | 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 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 be deported because of their lack of understanding. Their leaders will have nothing to eat, their masses will have nothing to drink. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 15People shall be brought down, Each man shall be humbled, And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. | 15Men will be humiliated, they will be brought low; the proud will be brought low. |
| 16But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness. | 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 shall feed in their pasture, And in the waste places of the fat ones strangers shall eat. | 17Lambs will graze as if in their pastures, amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze. |
| 18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if 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. |
| 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.” | 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!" |
| 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! | 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. |
| 21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! | 21Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, those who think they possess understanding. |
| 22Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, | 22Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks. |
| 23Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man! | 23They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent. |
| 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 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 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. | 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. |
| 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 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 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 tire or stumble, they don't stop to nap or sleep. They don't loosen their belts, or unstrap their sandals to rest. |
| 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 are prepared. The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm. |
| 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 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. |
| 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. | 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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