1Now I will sing to my Well-Beloved a song of my Beloved about His vineyard. My Well-Beloved has a vineyard on a very fertile hillside; 2He dug and hedged it in with a wall, and cleared it of stones, then planted it with the best vines, and built a tower in middle of it, as well as a winepress in it; Then He waited for a crop of good grapes, but instead it brought forth wild grapes. 3“Now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, you judge between Me and My vineyard. 4What more could have been done to My vineyard, that I had not done in it? But when I looked for good grapes, it produced bitter grapes. 5And now; I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will remove its protective hedge and wall, and let it be trampled down and devoured. 6And I will make it wasteland; it shall not be pruned, nor cultivated; and briers and thorns shall infest it; I will also command the clouds not to rain upon it.” 7The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the men of Judah are the vines He planted and delighted in; and He looked for a crop of justice, but found oppression and bloodshed; He looked for righteousness, but instead heard cries of distress.

8Woe to you who buy up house after house, and field after field, till you have displaced all your neighbors, and you live alone in the land! 9I have heard the LORD Almighty say, “Of a truth, many houses shall stand empty - even large and fine mansions, without inhabitants. 10A ten-acre vineyard shall yield only one bath (six gallons), and a homer (ten baskets) of seed shall yield an ephah (one basket).” 11Woe to those who arise early in the morning to seek strong drink; who continue drinking until night, till they are drunk! 12They have harps, lyres, timbrels, and flutes, and wine; but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD - no respect for the work of His hands. 13Therefore, my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; those of high rank will starve, and the common people will be parched with thirst. 14Therefore death and hell have expanded their jaws, and opened wide their mouths to accommodate the nobles with their pomp, as well as the drunken mob, who shall descend into it. 15And so the people shall be brought low; even the powerful and the arrogant shall be humbled. 16But the LORD Almighty shall be justly exalted, and sanctified in righteousness. 17Then shall the sheep graze in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich. 18Woe to those who drag sin along with cords of deceit, and evil as if it were with a cart behind them! 19They even mock God and say, “Let Him hurry, and hasten His work, so that we may see it; and let the plan of the Holy One of Israel be carried out, that we may know it!” 20Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; and darkness is light, and light is darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21Woe to them who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight! 22Woe to them who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant at mixing strong drink: 23Who acquit the guilty for bribes, and punish the innocent! 24Therefore, as fire devours straw, and flame consumes dry grass, so shall their root rot, and their flowers blow away like dust, because they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25Therefore the anger of the LORD is aroused against His people, and He has stretched out His hand to strike them down; and the mountains shake, and their dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet, for all this, His anger is not abated; but His hand is still upraised. 26And He will raise a signal to the nations from far, and will whistle for them to come from the ends of the earth; and they shall come with speed. 27Not one of them shall become weary, or stumble, sleep; nor relax their preparation for battle; 28Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs seem like flint, and their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind; 29They shall roar like young lions; yes, they shall roar, and seize their prey, and shall carry it off, and no one shall rescue them.

30And in that day they shall roar over their prey like the roaring of the sea; and if someone looks across the land, they will only see darkness and sorrow, even the sun in the heavens will be darkened.