| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile 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 and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded 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. |
| 3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. | 3So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard! |
| 4What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield 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 I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will 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 make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon 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 planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! | 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, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to 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. |
| 9The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, 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 but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an 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 run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as 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. |
| 12They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work 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 go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched 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 its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her. | 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. |
| 15Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. | 15Men will be humiliated, they will be brought low; the proud will be brought low. |
| 16But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy 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 shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich. | 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 falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, | 18Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, who pull sin as with cart ropes. |
| 19who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it 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 shrewd in their own sight! | 21Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, those who think they possess understanding. |
| 22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, | 22Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks. |
| 23who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! | 23They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent. |
| 24Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have 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 was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and 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 raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come! | 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. |
| 27None is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a waistband is loose, not a sandal strap 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. |
| 28their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the 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 is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey; they carry it off, and none can rescue. | 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. |
| 30They will growl over it on that day, like the growling of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its 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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