New King James Version

New Living Translation

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.

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 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 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.

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

3Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you 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 that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter 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 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 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 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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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

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.

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

10Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket 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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

15Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation.

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

16But the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will be exalted by his justice. The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness.

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

17In that day lambs will find good pastures, and fattened sheep and young goats will feed among the ruins.

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

18What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart!

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 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.”

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!

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.

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

21What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever.

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

22What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold.

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

23They take bribes to let the wicked go free, and they punish 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, 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.

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.

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 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 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.

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;

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.